Making A Great First Impression

Posted by: Darlene Duncan CWDP, JSS, CCC, JCTC, JCDC
                  Training Coordinator

There’s an old saying I grew up hearing, “You never get a second chance to make a first impression.”

Within just a few seconds of meeting someone you have made a first impression. There are many factors that go into creating that initial impression. They include but are not limited to; your body language, your clothing, your grooming and your overall attitude.

Click here to read an article that expands on the idea of Making A Great First Impression.

Are You Listening?

Last week I talked about information sharing and I mentioned listening to what others were saying so you would know how to be able to help them.

Today, I’m going to talk a bit about how you can actually improve your listening skills.

Our teachers and our parents were/are always telling us to pay attention. How do they know you’re not paying attention? It probably has a lot to do with your body language. Are you looking at something other than the speaker? Are slouched down with your arms crossed on your chest? Are you texting or playing a game on your phone? Are you blowing bubbles with your gum? If you answered yes, to any of the above questions – STOP!

Pay attention means to look at the speaker, appear interested, let go of the thoughts in your mind and listen to the words being said. You also need to watch the body language of the speaker. You must also stop thinking about how you’re going to respond while the person is still talking. When they stop talking paraphrase what they told you to make sure you understood the message. If you do these things you’ll be able to form a more accurate response.

So how does this help you in the listening situation I introduced last week? How about a scenario to illustrate?

A colleague and I recently had the opportunity to go out to dinner with the two individuals that would be providing us with some training. My colleague is one of those people who listen very well. One of the people we were out with expressed a desire to have a piece of real Key Lime pie. She was very emphatic about how it needed to be the real thing, not one of those green, out of the box imitations. The Key Lime pie ordered at the restaurant was a disappointment. Our training was ending the next day. My colleague makes a delicious Key Lime pie and considered making one for our trainer. However, she knew the trainer wouldn’t be able to travel with a pie. So instead of making the pie, she purchased a bottle of Key Lime Juice and presented it to the trainer. On the bottle of juice is an easy to follow recipe for real Key Lime Pie.

Most likely the trainer will remember my colleague’s name long after the rest of us at that training are forgotten.

Remember, you have two ears and one mouth for a reason. Pay attention to what people say, you’ll learn a lot more that way than you will by talking.

Coming next week The Dreaded Salary Question

Eyes Play a Major Role in Connecting

Making eye contact is difficult for some people.
And keeping eye contact is even harder.
But according to blogger Nagesh Belludi, "Our eyes play a major role in our interpersonal communication. The eyes express our moods and reactions more overtly than does other body language. By and large, observant people can attempt to understand our attitudes through the nature of our eye contact, our facial expressions and body language."
Nicholas Boothman, in his book, "How to Connect in Business in 90 Seconds or Less," says "Make eye contact and smile … it’s a simple courtesy and leads to a relaxed conversation. If you tend to be a shy person, this may be somewhat difficult for you. You may tend to look down or away when greeting someone. This can break the conversation right away."
"When you meet or greet someone for the first time, just make a mental note of their eye color. This simple technique is amazingly effective. If you are looking for their eye color you’ll automatically make eye contact for a second or two."
Read more tips about making and keeping good eye contact.