Society & Politics

Social Skills Part 3 : How To Make a Good First Impression

Social Skills Part 3 : How To Make a Good First Impression

Do you always feel confused when meeting someone new ? You feel like you don’t know how to act at an important event ? Maybe it’s a job interview, a family meeting, or just some friends hanging out. We often find ourselves in situations where first impressions matter, and they can affect our future success, be it in a career or just in a more casual way like friends and family. So how exactly can we make a good first impression when meeting people ? Here’s what you can do

1. Use body language

This always comes up when mentioning human interactions. In case you didn’t know it, the way you move your body can actually reveal how you’re feeling, and that’s an indicator that people use unconsciously to figure out your emotional state. When you’re in a group setting, especially when meeting someone for the first time you want to convey the right impression using your body as a way of communication with the other person, so here’s the direct approach to use your body to your advantage :

Eye contact

The rule is simple, make eye contact 80% of the time. This the perfect balance that shows that you’re interested in what the person has to say, and being creepy. It’s simple yet it signals to others that you’re engaged in the conversation without staring at them in an awkward manner.

Feet pointing

When you’re talking to someone, the more you’re turned away from them, the more it seems like you’re not interested in what they have to say. Here’s what you should do, when talking to someone, you want to point your feet towards them so that they feel that you’re listening to them and that you’re interested in listening to what they have to say, and that makes all the difference because everyone want to be heard.

Arms and hands

Having an open body language means you’re interested and open to the interaction that you’re having, the opposite is also true. You want to signal to the other person that you’re happy to talk to them, so keep your arms uncrossed, don’t fidget with your hands to avoid seeming anxious. You can also put both arms on your hips, combined with a firm handshake signals confidence which is always useful to have.

Mimic the other person

One trick that you can use so that the other person feels like you’re similar to him, is to use the exact same body language. This subconsciously signals that you are both alike, and makes others feel like you understand them.

2. Listen

It seems like an obvious advice, right ? Well, guess what, a lot of us are really bad at listening to others because we’re too busy thinking about what we’re going to say next. So instead of really listening to what others have to say, all we do is waiting for our turn to speak. So instead of doing that, just let the other person talk and pay attention without thinking about what you’re going to say next. This shows that you’re more interested in learning about other people than talking about yourself, it also makes the other person feel important and that’s always a good thing.

3. Use appearance to your advantage

That’s an easy one, just dress in a nice way to appear more attractive. What you wear can affect the way people perceive you, and even the way people treat you. We talked about it earlier in part 2. The reason this is, is because what you wear reflects your financial situation, which in its turn is related to your social status, which determines the way people treats you. All of these indirect relations between these factors mean one thing : how you dress can affect how people treat you. So you want to make the best out of it, and use it to convey the image of someone who’s powerful in order to make a good impact on people around you.

4. Know how to speak

Knowing what to say, how, and when to say it is an art. The first step is to break the ice, and here you have a few options : make a comment about something in your environment, mention a mutual friend, talk about something that you have in common, ask some questions about the other person, or show the other person something that you think is interesting. This wil set the mood for a longer conversation and will help you to avoid an awkward moment.

Here are some additional advice that you should know to improve the way you talk :
- If you feel anxious when talking to new acquaintances, take a deep breath before talking. That will help you to speak in a clear manner without having a shaky voice when nervous.
- Use gestures when talking. Communicating with your body is much more effective than using words alone.
- Talk with a slower pace to be more distinct, and appear more confident.

5. Be authentic

I’m not going to tell you the old ‘be yourself’ bullshit, I’m sure you’re sick of hearing it. The important thing to remember is to always say what you think, speak your mind and show your true colors without being afraid of judgment. I could have told you to ‘be fun’ or ‘give a compliment’ or something like that, but let’s face it, that’s too shallow. You don’t want to have a fake personality, and that’s for 2 good reasons. One, people can tell when you’re not being genuine, so there’s no need to try. Two, and that’s the most important one, is that you’re not comfortable acting like someone else, and you have much more to offer while being who you really are, so why fake it ?

That’s all you have to know in order to make a good first impression. Part 4 is coming soon so don’t miss it.
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You might also like :

Social Skills Part 1 : Understand How People Think

Social Skills Part 2 : Here’s How People Really Judge You

Social Skills Part 3 : How To Make a Good First Impression
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