The one thing that matters most, more than your resume, the bright ideas you present or how hard you work, is the perception that people have of you. I once heard someone say, “Image is worth a thousand words.” First impression is about how we dress, the way we walk into a room, the manner we shake hands and maintain eye contact, or even the way we maintain calmness while talking to others.
The first five minutes are enough for someone to form an impression about you. One attribute that determines the first impression that others have of you is body language. These things include where you place your hands while talking to others, your body posture and as earlier mentioned how you walk. In fact, how you handle yourself contributes to over 50% of how people will view you.
Another important aspect of first impression is your tone of voice. Your tone should be friendly and inviting. Even when handling a phone call, it is important to make sure that your tone is welcoming, the person on the others side should picture you smiling.
People first form an opinion about how you look, then from there, they start judging you by the words you speak. Thus, you can then imagine if your first impression was not striking then no matter how good you talk, people will have already created an opinion about who you are.
Though we do some things unknowingly, we fail to realize that they matter a lot to the people we come in contact with. Our silent actions determine whether we land that dream job or seal that business deal.
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