Lesson 2 Flashcards
What are the Six (6) Ways to Make Good Impression?
-Your Mindset,
-Appearance,
-Get Ready-Be Prepared,
-Stand up straight and Smile,
-Let Them Speak,
-Reveal your Flaws, but not your uhm’s and ahh’s
Before you have the opportunity to impress, you need to know why you want to make a great first impression. What do you hope to achieve?
Your mindset basically says that “goals matter”. Think about what kind of people you want to meet and what kinds of interactions you want to have with them. You may even adjust your wardrobe or style of dress accordingly.
This clearly needs to happen before you attend any kind of big event, conference, or even social occasion. It also grounds you in the kind of energy you want to have and the level of intimacy or personal exchange you want to engage in.
Your Mindset
My favorite way that this was described came from the Forbes article contributed by YEC Women. They reference appearance as “Think about your ornaments”. Now as a women’s consulting group, they were referring to clothes, make-up and jewelry. But this also translates to men with respect to watches, or shoes. What you wear, and how you present yourself, says a lot about a person. Looking polished, professional and not “overdone” is the foundation for any good impression (Stillman, Inc.com).
Appearance
Before you realize that your Great First Impression was a Not So Great First Impression; because you (1) left your phone on, (2) couldn’t shake the bad mood you were in, or (3) Arrived 15 minutes late, do a “ready check”. Take one last look in the mirror. Confirm the time and location. Turn off or put away any distractions. And truly, if you’re in a bad mood, stay home, reschedule, or watch something funny on your phone before you walk into the room. Now, let’s switch to real-time experiences. You’re dressed, ready, and have the proper mindset.
Get ready – Be Prepared
Body language is a crucial part of first impressions. Stand tall, smile, and above all else, make eye contact. The British Psychological Society states that people who make eye contact are perceived as more intelligent. While people who avoid contact are judged to be insincere. This is more closely aligned in the research with women than with men.
Stand up straight and Smile
There’s some disagreement about whether to begin the conversation first or to listen first.
Actually both are correct depending upon the situation! There’s no one magic formula. You have to be able to read the room and accommodate yourself to the situation. Pay Attention! You can engage in a bit of small talk to loosen up a conversation. You can and certainly should learn about the person you want to meet if you have set that intention ahead of time. But if you want a person to trust you, fight the impulse to overly self-promote and speak in rapid succession. Letting the other person speak first, or have the floor first, is offering a kindness in a way. It creates a positive environment and gets people to feel good about you.
Let them Speak!
Polish is not always the answer when it crowds your authenticity. You do have to relax and be yourself. That’s not to say that you begin a conversation with what you can’t do versus what you can do. But with first impressions experts actually find that some degree of vulnerability can be empowering. Honesty and the ability to let your guard down humanizes the communication and makes you seem real. So don’t overdo, but also don’t underdo. There’s no excuse for bad manners, cutting someone off when they’re speaking, finishing their sentences for them, or stumbling over words.
Reveal your Flaws, but not your uhm’s and ahh’s
It is a quick summary of yourself. It’s named for the amount of time it should take to deliver it— the duration of a short elevator ride (roughly 30 to 60 seconds or 75 words). Elevator pitches are sometimes thought to be specific to an idea or a product, but you can also use it to sell yourself as a professional.
Elevator Speech
How many second and words does an elevator speech has?
30 to 60 seconds or 75 words
4 Steps of Elevator speech
1 Start by introducing yourself
2 Provide a summary of what you do
3 Explain what you want
4 Finish with a call to action
