The Importance of A Great First Impression

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Host Sheila Boysen-Rotelli is diving into the importance of a great first impression, something that holds true across all areas of life.


Episode Highlights:

  • First impressions aren’t just about what you say, but how you say it

  • Human beings make judgments about people within the first few seconds of meeting them

  • Researchers at Oregon State University conducted an experiment to see if there was a correlation between first impressions and interview success

    • They evaluated interviewee behavior, performance, rapport, and professional skills

    • Random evaluators who only saw the first impression gave the same rating as trained evaluators who saw the entire interview

  • Candidates tend to focus too much on the interview and not enough on nailing the first impression

  • At the end of the day, you want to be confident with your first impression and how you come across to others

  • The First Impression Model consists of 2 aspects

    • People are trying to decide how confident you are based on your body language, handshake, posture, and vocal power

    • Subconsciously, everyone likes to be around confident people that are engaging to be around

  • There are several methods to practice to appear more confident

  • Non-verbal signals such as body language are so important to a first impression

    • Winning athletes take up a lot of space when they feel pride, expanding their body and lifting their heads up

    • Losing athletes shrink their body down when they feel shame, rolling their shoulders forward and hanging their heads

    • Fronting is when you angle your toes, torso, and top towards the person that you are trying to engage

    • Enhance your engagement with eye contact which helps you connect and read their body language

  • Handshakes might be a thing of the past in a post-pandemic world, but they might not completely go away

  • The Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience showed that across cultures, strangers are able to connect at a deeper level via handshakes

    • Get palm-to-palm as quickly as possible; never give them just your fingertips

    • Keep the handshake vertical by keeping your thumb pointed up and your pinky pointed down

    • It depends on the situation, but it’s important not to overdo the handshake by pumping too many times

    • Reciprocate the other person’s firmness and this will show them that you respect their preferences

    • Dry your hands completely before shaking someone’s hand

  • There are a plethora of methods to sound confident and to use your vocal power to make a good impression

    • Your facial expression when you speak translates the tone of what you say

    • The majority of a conversation comes after a first impression, so it’s important not to fall back into a monotonous tone

    • Avoid social scripts and questions that barely warrant real answers

    • Think about questions that bring up some sort of excitement for the person that you are talking to

3 Key Points:

  1. It only takes a few seconds for human beings to make snap judgments about each other, so first impressions are vitally important.

  2. Sheila used to focus all of her energy on what to say and not how to say it, resulting in a generally boring first impression.

  3. Two non-verbal ways to appear confident are fronting, or angling your body towards the person you are trying to engage, and making eye contact.

Tweetable Quote

“We decide if we like someone, if we trust them, or if we would want to work with them in the first 15-20 seconds of meeting them.” - Sheila Boysen-Rotelli

“First impressions make all of your interactions easier. No matter how well you answer an interview question...if you have a bad first impression, it’s almost impossible to recover.” - Sheila Boysen-Rotelli

“The moment we mutually gaze with someone, we feel more connected to them.” - Sheila Boysen-Rotelli

“We’re constantly listening for vocal signs of emotion.” - Sheila Boysen-Rotelli

Resources Mentioned:

  1. Fast Track Your Job Search: fasttrackyourjobsearch.com

Sheila Boysen-RotelliComment