How to make a good first impression?

The choice is yours, and are you aware exactly why and how? When we walk into a room and meet someone for the first time – be it a potential client, a new employer, a new colleague, or simply an new acquaintance, we have 5 seconds to make a good first impression.

So what is it that others see in those 5 seconds? How can we make sure that those 5 seconds count in our favor? What can we do to make a positive impression, or simply not make a bad one?

First impressions are based on the other person’s perception of how we behave and what we look like in the first couple of seconds of meeting us. Think of a situation when you met someone for the first time. Did you have an instant “feeling” about that person? We know it’s not a good idea to judge someone before we know them better, but could you help yourself? The answer is probably “yes, I had a gut feeling and no, I couldn’t help it”. This is normal. We use all our senses at lightning speed, intuitively and subconsciously to understand as much as we can about strangers.

This stems of course from many thousands of years ago when we did not have the luxury of a formal introduction before we needed to know whether the person would throw a rock at us or be friendly. So we honed our instincts and our subconscious perceptions. We would then have time later to confirm or review our instant judgments, but we would have more chance of being alive to do this!

How can we make this natural reaction work for us? First is to greet someone with the right body language and attitude: an upright, open body, open hands (showing we have no weapons), a smile and (if appropriate) eye contact, a firm handshake and introducing yourself with a steady and confident voice. Once the greeting is over, spend some time being accessible and showing interest in the other person: lean forward to show interest, draw them out about themselves by giving basic information about yourself (without using blatantly prepared lines such as “Nice weather today!”). Speak at the same volume as the other person, and at the same speed. Showing positive confidence, not arrogance is the key.

The opposite behavior will produce the opposite effect: slouching, lowered eyes, low voice and nervousness, clenched or hidden hands and a sideways crab-like approach will definitely cause the other to become more uncomfortable and less impressed by you. The choice is yours.

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