The Importance of Building a Good First Impression
Sabtu, 09 Juli 2022
The Importance of Building a Good First Impression
We all know how important first impressions are. We only have eight seconds to make a positive impact the first time we meet someone. If you want to make a good impression especially in an interview, business meeting, or client presentation, avoid making mistakes. Mistakes, for example, such as being wrong in dressing, arriving late, and/or other mistakes such as in actions or words that we might even do without us realizing it.
Meeting new people can be exhausting and scary. Especially when we realize that we only have a few seconds to win or win their hearts. This is enough to make us experience excessive anxiety and worry and even feel insecure. But on the flip side of our encounters with new people, we can learn to master skills that can strengthen our image in the eyes of others in those crucial first seconds.
Making a good first impression when you meet someone doesn't mean changing who you are or pretending to be someone else. Making a good first impression is an important part of making others feel comfortable in your presence.
First impressions don't take long to create, it only takes a glance, maybe even just three to eight seconds for someone to judge us when we first meet that person. It is in this short time that other people form opinions about us based on our appearance, our body language, our attitude, our behavior, and the way we dress.
In every new meeting, the new person we meet will definitely give an assessment of us from the first sight. These first impressions are impossible to change or undo. And these first impressions often influence other people's attitudes, behavior, and relationships with us in our communications at times and subsequent occasions.
Here are some ways to build a good first impression
Arrive on time
Someone we're meeting for the first time won't be interested in any "good excuse" for our tardiness. Plan to arrive a few minutes early and allow flexibility for possible traffic delays and/or anything else that could happen. Arriving early is much better than arriving late, which is the first step to making a good first impression. If the first meeting is a virtual meeting, make sure the gadget and network are in good and stable condition. Choose or prepare a good background and environment, comfortable, and not in crowded or noisy conditions.
Attractive
Of course physical appearance is important when it comes to the first meeting. The people we meet for the first time don't know who we are, so our appearance is usual
Give the Best Smile
As the saying goes, "Smile and the world will smile too". So nothing can match a smile to make a good first impression. A warm and confident smile will make us and others feel comfortable and respectful of each other. However, don't create an exaggerated smile or even laugh, as this can come across as insincere and/or even reproachful.
Open and Confident
When it comes to making a good first impression, body language can often speak louder than our words. Use our body language to reflect our confidence and self-confidence. Stand up straight, smile, make eye contact, greet someone we just met with a strong and warm handshake (a strong handshake doesn't mean strong or hard).
Use Small Chat
Conversation is based on verbal give and take. This can help us to prepare some questions or topics for discussion. Take a few minutes to learn something about the people you will be meeting and the places you will be going. For example, do they play golf? Do they work for a certain company? Do we have anything in common with them? If so, this can be a great way to open up a conversation and keep it flowing. And start with light conversations and never immediately ask or open a discussion about personal things when you first meet someone.
Be Positive and Say
Show a positive attitude, even in the face of criticism. Seek to learn from our previous encounters with others. Show that you are approachable (in a positive way) by maintaining an optimistic, confident attitude, and giving a friendly smile.
Be Polite and Attentive
It goes without saying that being polite and attentive can help make a good first impression. In fact, anything disrespectful can ruin any chance we have of making a good first impression. So be as good as possible and avoid mistakes that might occur. And it's even better if when we meet new people, we turn off or put our cellphones in our bags or clothes pockets. Thus we can give full attention to the person. And not to be distracted by our cell phones.
After knowing how important it is to build a good first impression, let's learn the steps above and make it a habit for us to be able to build a good first impression.
Good luck!ly the first clue they turn to. But, don't worry! This doesn't mean that you have to look like a model to create a strong and positive first impression. Simply dress in appropriate clothes according to the event to be attended, choose clothes that are polite, neat, and most importantly, make yourself feel comfortable. Because if we don't feel comfortable when we dress, this can affect our thoughts and can end up in a decrease or loss of self-confidence. And when our self-confidence decreases or even disappears, it can affect the way we talk, the way we perceive the people around us and also the way we behave.
First, think about how to dress. What type or model of clothing is appropriate for the meeting or event? For example in a business environment, what kind of business attire is appropriate? Suit, blazer or casual? And what a person we are about to meet is likely to wear.
For business and social gatherings, appropriate attire also varies between countries and cultures, so this is one thing we need to pay particular attention to when in an unfamiliar or unfamiliar environment, region, or country. Make sure we know the traditions and norms by reading or finding out about the different cultural norms in the neighborhood or place we are going to attend or visit.
Be yourself
Making a good first impression means we have to be adaptable to some degree. But that doesn't mean we lose ourselves or pretend to be someone we're not. The best way to make a good impression is to be yourself. This will make us feel more confident, be genuine, and help us to be able to build trust, and can help us build mutual respect for the people we have just met.