How To Make A Great First Impression
Science says your first impression is what you make others think about you within the first 7 seconds of meeting them. You have to act quickly to create a great first impression. Here are a few tips to help you be the most charming personality anywhere you go.
Be Punctual
No matter how reasonable your excuse is for being late, it’s going to do nothing to improve your impression on someone who’s meeting you for the first time. To leave a good first impression, you need to be on time – it’s even better to arrive a few minutes early. You can achieve this by planning things better like you should allow flexibility for taking a wrong turn or getting stuck in traffic.
Be Yourself
Yes, you want to go the extra mile to make someone draw a good conclusion about you and your behavior, but don’t make it look like you’re posing or faking it. There’s no need to try to be someone else, as you’ll eventually fail at this. Just be your authentic self, as this will make you feel a lot more confident, earn the respect from the other person, and help build a better trust factor.
Smile
You need to remember that your smile will usually be the most memorable feature in your first meeting with someone. However, you should also avoid an inauthentic and cheesy grin on your face. If you smile too widely, it’d be a sign that you’re trying to cover up your nervousness. On the other hand, a small grin can make you look like an arrogant person.
Knowing how much to smile is important, as when you do it correctly, it makes you look like a confident person and helps make people feel better around you. Smiling may also help relieve stress and lower stress hormones, which will have many health benefits as well.
Introduce Yourself Properly
Don’t waste the first few seconds of meeting someone. You can make it productive by verbally introducing yourself. Even saying something like “Pleased to meet you” will usually be enough to break the tension and save you from feeling nervous. You can use your intro to reinforce the name of the other person, and it will help you remember it for long.
Work On Your Body Language
Many people don’t understand that their body language tells a lot about them and really goes a long way towards creating or breaking the very first impression on someone they meet for the first time. You can learn to train yourself and use your body language to project self-assurance and confidence.
For instance, you should be calm, smile more, maintain a tall posture, and greet the other person with a firm handshake. Understand that it’s okay to be nervous, as this will help you take your first meeting more seriously, but don’t let that feeling take control of you or you’d experience its side effects, such as the “jitters”, nail-biting, or sweaty palms.
Be Attentive
You need to be polite when meeting someone for the first time, but it is equally important to be courteous and attentive to create a good impression. For this, it’s a good idea to stay away from any modern-day distractions –turning off your cell phone would be a good start. It is equally important to avoid being sidetracked by other people in a gathering. Give your full attention to the person you’re meeting and your good behavior will leave a lasting impression.
Use the Spotlight Sensibly
It means you should know how and how much to praise the other person. Everyone loves to be appreciated, and that’s when you can use your skills to tell them what they did well. They will really like the fact that you pay attention to what they’ve achieved in life. Making someone feel more accomplished is one great way to make them think highly of you.
At the same time, you need to realize that being self-important is never going to work in your favor. Only other pretentious, stuffy, and self-important people are going to listen to what you want to say about yourself. Avoid being irritating and focus more on the other person than constantly talking about you.
Know What Not To Talk About
Choosing your words wisely is always important, but you should also know what to avoid discussing when meeting someone for the very first time. For instance, it’s not a great idea to discuss the failings of others. You may be thinking that the other person likes hearing a little gossip, but it can easily backfire. Your behavior would caution them and tell them that you might show the same behavior and talk badly about them once they’re out of the picture. So, don’t discuss it and never laugh at other people in front of someone you’ve met for the first time.
If you really want to talk about failures, talk about your own failings then. The idea is to be as genuine as possible, and admitting your failings would then help you be more charismatic. You should learn to be humble, and know that there’s nothing wrong with admitting your mistakes or discussing your screw-ups to laugh at yourself. It would also say a bit about your sense of humor and help create a great effect on the other person.
Conclusion
Whether you want to secure a good job or you want people to feel more comfortable around you, it is important to take steps and make a great first impression. If you can ease their anxiety in the first meeting, they will remember you for long. Similarly, if you can overcome your nervousness and maintain good body language, it will make you look a confident person and help you leave a lasting impression on anyone you meet.
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