Make A Great First Impression

Your success at work and in your social life depends a great deal on whether people want to associate with you when they meet you for the first time. You usually have between ten seconds and one hour to help them make that decision. Your goal is not merely to pass the test so that they don’t mind meeting you again. You should aim to impress them so much that they want to deal with you and will seek you out even if you don’t follow up with them.

1. Dress smartly

People see you before they get to interact with you in any depth. Like it or not, they will judge you by how you look. If you’re reading this in a public right now, just take a quick look around and pick out a few people whom you think are successful or that you’d want to be friends with. Then look at how they are dressed. Chances are that they are dressed well.

You don’t have buy expensive clothes or be dressed to the nines at all times. You do need to look clean, and show that you have good taste. Here are a few rules of thumb:

  • Wear clothes that fit, nothing too loose or even worse, too tight.
  • Make sure your clothes are pressed and have no visible stains.
  • Dress for the occasion. If in doubt, overdressing is safer than underdressing.
  • Use a maximum of three different colours at any one time.
  • Accessories should blend in with and enhance your look, not scream for attention.

    • 2. Groom meticulously

    People may forgive your bad dress sense, but very few will be able to overlook your grooming or lack thereof. While limited means may restrict a person’s ability to dress well, there is no excuse for not being clean. The following seems obvious but we’ve all met people who didn’t oberve these sacred rules:

  • You should smell clean. Use deodorant if necessary.
  • Use scent sparingly. You want to attract, not knock the other person out.
  • Assume you have bad breath and routinely freshen your breath with mints or sprays.
  • Clean your nails, and keep them short unless they’re manicured.

    • 3. Look at people and smile

    While dressing and grooming are our ‘outer dress’, our attitude and approachability are the ‘inner dress’ which often matters much more. Looking people in the eye when you see them is an acknowledgement of their existence, and we are all impressed by those who notice us, aren’t we? Smiling indicates that you welcome them into your world, and sets the stage for a good first meeting even before any words are exchanged.

    4. Show an interest in them

    When you finally reach the point of saying hello, keep the focus on the other person after you get past the formalities. Answer any questions they ask about you, but keep your answers short unless you’re attending a job interview and are expected to provide a lot more information about yourself. Even then, you want to eventually turn the conversation away from you to focus on the company or the job position. Give people a chance to talk about themselves and they’ll find you enormously engaging.

    5. Use names

    Dale Carnegie noted that the sweetest sound to any person’s ears is his own name. Learn the names of people you meet and use them as often as appropriate. You don’t have to repeat the name in every sentence, but you could use it when asking them the next question about themselves (“Tell me, Susan, how often do you eat at this restaurant?”), or when reacting to something they said (“That’s a good point, Terry. I hadn’t thought of that before”).

    6. Give people a reason to remember you

    Perhaps you could offer to send them some information about a topic you discussed that they were particularly interested in. Or invite them to a business or social function that they may find useful or interesting. You could also suggest having coffee when you’re next in the vicinity of their office or home. When you can be of service to somebody, they will remember you a lot better after the meeting because you have identified a need or want in their lives that you can help with.

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