First impressions are important. Within the first five minutes of meeting someone, they will naturally form an opinion about you based on how you look, how you present yourself and what you say. These opinions will then determine how the person perceives you and can be the basis for many important decisions they make concerning you for example, you could be attending a job interview, trying to form new business relationships or trying to make friends and form social contacts. That s why it s essential to know how to make a great first impression when meeting new people one that will help you achieve the success you desire.
1. Be on time
Even before you arrive at your interview, a networking event or social meeting, you ll have created a negative impression of yourself if you don t turn up on time. The best advice is to plan ahead and try to arrive early. It may even work in your favor sometimes being the first person on the scene of a networking event helps you connect with the most people as you re there to greet people as they arrive.
2. Look your best
It is estimated that 93 of a first impression is formed with non verbal data such as appearance and body language. This means it s important to dress well and appropriately for the occasion. Make an effort with your hair, how well your shoes are polished, your make up, your choice of tie every detail counts. By dressing well, you ll also feel more confident which is always an attractive quality.
3. Smile
Smiles are great for helping people feel relaxed and comfortable. Welcome someone with a warm and genuine smile and they are sure to reciprocate. It s a fact that smiling helps people to feel happy, too don t neglect the importance of this simple gesture when making your first impressions.
4. Learn good body language technique
Your body language communicates a great deal about you. It s good to have an understanding of the signals you send out and which ones will help you make a good impression. Making eye contact shows you are paying attention to the person you are talking to and are interested in what they are saying. Leaning in towards a person helps you appear engaged in the conversation. Standing tall, offering a firm handshake and controlling nervous habits like fidgeting will help you appear more confident, too.
5. Be polite and courteous
Good manners always help to make a good impression. Being polite, considerate and courteous towards the people you meet is a quality that is often noted and appreciated. One courteous action worth mentioning is making sure your phone is switched off so conversations aren t interrupted
6. Be positive
A person who makes negative comments is rarely appealing to other people. Hold back any tendencies to criticize complain or grumble. Instead, be someone who is positive and looks for good aspects even in the face of negative situations. Having a positive attitude is another way to instantly attract other people to you.
7. Know how to have good conversations
When talking about yourself, share interesting stories that highlight your best features without sounding over confident. For example, if you are in an interview for a marketing job, share a story about a unique achievement you made or original sales campaign you had success with, so that the achievement or success will be remembered. At the same time, be someone who shows interest in the person you are speaking to especially when networking or meeting new people for social or business purposes. Ask open ended questions that help you learn more about the person you are speaking to.
8. Use people s names
People like to hear other people using their name. After being introduced to someone, try and incorporate their name into your phrasing while you have a conversation. This is also something that will help you remember their name later another great way to make a good impression.
9. Know how to shake hands
Knowing how to give a good handshake is especially important during business interactions. Even in social meetings, a good handshake immediately conveys a sense of confidence and self assurance. The handshake should always be firm, never limp. Position your hand to make complete contact with the other person s hand. Once they connect, close your thumb over the other person s hand. You can then give it a slight squeeze with your thumb.
10. Be yourself and be confident
When meeting new people, it s always important to be yourself and avoid trying to be someone or something that you aren t or that you believe people want you to be. You ll feel more naturally relaxed and confident if you are first comfortable with who you are. If you can feel happy about letting other people know the real you, you ll instantly convey this self confidence when you meet people for the first time.
If you liked this article, tell all your friends about it. They’ll thank you for it. If you have a blog or website, you can link to it or even post it to your own site (don’t forget to mention www.meetingwave.com as the original source).
Author Resource:
Jonathan Boyd has written countless articles for Meeting Wave, a free website to meet people offline, for social or business networking. Check out the MW blog at http://www.meetingwave.com/blog
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