Five pieces of advice on making a good first impression

The first impression is the most important one. According to a 2017 survey by the University of Toronto, it takes a mere five seconds for people to decide whether a person they have just met is charismatic, trustworthy and likeable. This article will look at how you can make the most of those five seconds in order to create the best possible impression.

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The article is based on a text from Customer Service Manager.

Smiling

The easiest and most effective way to make a favourable impression and come across as likeable is simply to smile. People will thus sense you are in a good mood, sufficiently confident and have good intentions. A positive attitude and feel-good aura around a person is always very much welcome.

Eye contact

Do not let your eyes wander; instead, when meeting and talking to other people, focus on looking directly into their eyes. Avoiding eye contact suggests nervousness and an attempt to hide something. Adopt a firm look. A good habit when being introduced to someone is to try to find out the colour of their eyes. This will force you to make good eye contact in the first crucial several seconds of meeting someone.

Good posture

As psychologist Jordan Peterson says, an upright posture with shoulders back has long been a signal of trustworthiness in the animal kingdom. It is something humans share with lobsters. If you have a bad posture and slouch, or do not adopt an open posture towards the other person, you will appear timid and untrustworthy.

Being interested in the other person

We are all a little egoistic. People love to talk about themselves. If you show the other person you are interested in them, you will seem likeable immediately. Ask the other person questions, let them talk about themselves and generally display an interest in them.

Mirroring gestures and behaviour

Birds of a feather flock together. People tend subconsciously to trust others of the same tribe who behave similarly to themselves. You can convince the other person you are of the same kind if you mirror their gestures, expressions, behaviour and way of talking. It is a simple yet very effective psychological trick that will help you get closer to the person you are communicating with.

 

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Article source Customer Service Manager - a magazine for Customer Service Managers & professionals
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