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One’s initial perception of another person, typically involving a positive or negative evaluation as well as a sense of physical and psychological characteristics. Making a strong first impression will help you develop customer relationships and make sales. From the moment you approach a customer, your behaviour, attitude and personal presentation will influence your customer’s decision to buy. Make sure you seem happy to see the person you’re about to meet (but not overly excited!). Pairing this point with reading the room, make sure to dress in a way that shows that you know what you’re doing without looking unprofessional or too stiff.

It can help you come across as personable when it comes to first impressions. Of course, you want to be professional and not cross boundaries. However, showing that you understand the person or group you’re speaking to and that what they’re saying resonates with you will help you form a genuine connection. As well as face-to-face business meetings, there’s also the appearance of your website that makes a big first impression on prospective clients and customers.

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We form this opinion by quickly taking in information about a person, including their face, dress, posture, and tone of voice. If you are feeling tense, such as during a job interview or while speaking in public, try to maintain a relaxed expression. Researchers have found that people perceive people with happy expressions as more trustworthy.

It’s hard to connect with someone when you’re looking down at a screen, so try to make eye contact with everyone in the room. Regardless of how little you personally care about fashion or style, what you wear matters. If what others think of you matters, then pay attention to how others see you the first time you meet. As important, pay attention as to how your first impression may prejudice you against someone else. Looking professional on the first day, he believes, will carry over through the rest of the semester, when he reverts to the work clothes he will don until he meets a new batch of students. The importance of first impressions has never been understated in education.

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Whether you’re at a networking event, pitching your boss, or schmoozing at a party, you have to nail that first interaction… Because you might not get a second chance. Learn the science of first impressions to make yours count. For assistance and support in developing these and other skills, talk to our coaches at BetterUp. Other people will pick up on whether you are an effective listener or not.

A subtly happy facial expression could also help you seem more trustworthy than a neutral or subtly angry facial expression, according to a 2021 study. Study participants not only rated people with happier expressions as more trustworthy, but they also said they’d be more likely to loan them money or vote for them. Perhaps you’ve noticed all of these factors are observable traits. And certainly, you may not have much else to go on when meeting people for the first time.

No one will think it’s strange if you don’t want to look at the audience for a couple of seconds. It will give you time to collect your thoughts, and from there you can continue with the presentation. First impressions are based on minimal information, and they’re often wrong—almost everyone can think of a case where they have an initial impression of another person and it turns out to be wrong.

Dress the part.

This is a GREAT way to make an awkward first impression, no matter how many good things you ticked in your conversation. Crossing your arms makes you feel more closed off. But your stance is actually more important than your posture. And there’s one very powerful way you can stand to dramatically make a difference in your first impression.

Some people meditate or listen to slower-tempo instrumental music or the sounds of nature. During presentations we tend to speak too fast because we think we have so much to share. Practice pausing, too, so you can pace the speech.

In fact, it is financial leveragewired in our brain to make snap decisions. Because when we had to survive in the wild, we had to make snap decisions so that we wouldn’t get eaten or poisoned or pushed off a cliff. The horn effect can have a big impact on first impressions, and it’s usually not for the better.

How to Make a Good First Impression: 14 Tips to Try

Long gone are the days where companies had the luxury of taking their time to win customers over. Today, technology and digital communication have sped things up in every corner of the world. Consumers are online with their phones almost all day consuming information and sales messages from your competitors.

The first impressions people form are often based on immediate observations about characteristics, such as how others look, how they act, what they say, and their general attitude. However, people also bring their own past experiences, expectations, biases, and misapprehensions to the situations when forming impressions. And someone who prefers comfortable, relaxed clothing might be viewed as more laid-back and easygoing. Of course, there are no hard-and-fast rules for fashion, and you should always dress in whatever makes you feel most comfortable. But it’s worth considering how your clothing choices might be sending unintentional signals to the people around you. One of the best ways to make a good impression is to be a good listener.

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At the end of the day, it can help to remember that first impressions often happen very quickly — in a fraction of a second, 2006 research suggests. Reframing them, however, can help you approach the upcoming meeting with a more optimistic and welcoming mindset. Expressing strong or judgmental opinions when meeting someone for the first time can influence how they perceive you. Still, it could be worth aiming for a more relaxed expression. If you notice some tightness in your jaw, for example, you might try slightly parting your lips. This doesn’t just help open up your expression.

Plus, anyone worth forging a connection with probably won’t make up their mind about you based on a momentary glimpse of your physical features. They’ll be willing to take the time to get to know you. These traits may not be the first thing others notice — but they’ll still help distinguish you from the crowd, not to mention have a more lasting impact on your relationships. Rather than devoting your energy to leaving the best first impression possible, a better strategy might involve entering all of your interactions with respect, compassion, and an open mind.

• Meeting time management is key to building an engaged group of clients or colleagues.
• It could also help ease any nervousness or tension you’re feeling in the moment.
• Grammar and spelling errors in an online profile can make someone seem inattentive or less intelligent—and therefore less attractive.
• Compliment someone on their new shoes, their physique, their way of thinking.

Dwelling on the bad first impression will only make it harder for you to recover from it. Once you have accepted and admitted it, focus on the actions you are going to take to improve the first impression. Apologizing for your mistake shows that you are aware and interested in improving the person’s first impression of you.

Once you start off with a good impression, that positive momentum will keep you going when times get tough. This article is all about why first impressions are important and the psychology of how they work. Then, if you’re convinced that a good first impression is key, I’ve got some tips on how you can make your first impression great. Researchers say a person’s body language as well as their culture need to be taken into account when viewing their facial expression.

Pay attention to the emotional well-being of the person that you are talking to. This subconsciously closes you off from the other person. As founder of First Impressions Ann Demarais points out, people always remember how you made them feel. If you communicate clearly and listen well, people will enjoy their interactions with you. In her book, How To Talk To Anyone, Leil Lowndes recommends a 60/40 mix, with 60% eye contact being the ideal goal to indicate paying attention without aggression. Try to make eye contact before you start talking, and maintain regular eye contact during your conversation.