Have you read that you can lose a visitor to your website in the first 8 seconds? When you meet someone face-to-face you can win or lose favor in the same amount of time. First impressions are established more with nonverbal communications. Carol Kinsey Goman, a keynote speaker and author of “The Silent Language of Leaders: How Body Language Can Help – or Hurt – How You Lead,” offers these 7 tips to making the best first impression.
1. Adjust Your Attitude: It doesn’t matter to the other person that you had a flat on the way into work or that you left home without your phone, take a moment to adjust to a positive attitude.
2. Straighten Your Posture: Stand or sit tall and confident.
3. Smile: And be the first smile as well as to extend a hand in greeting.
4. Make Eye Contact: This part should go with the smile and handshake. Never speak to someone else while looking at the floor with your head bowed. That non-eye cue contact leads to distrust and is also demeaning.
5. Raise Your Eyebrows: As if you’ve just met the person you’ve waited for all your life. Goman calls this the “eyebrow flash.”
6. Shake Hands: This is a fairly universal greeting in industrialized countries. However, if you are travelling abroad, check into that culture’s greeting standards.
7. Lean In: This is something men tend to do better than women. When women greet each other they often square up facing each other directly. This is a confrontational posture – like a boxer or wrestler. On the other hand, men tend to greet each other at an angle and lean in to speak to each other. Go figure that one!
Action Steps
Practice a winning first impression. Try it with a trusted partner and then work it at your next business networking event or workshop.
“Eva Kathryne Gregory is a master coach, Law of Attraction expert, speaker and author. As host of her own radio shows, Eva has interviewed some of the most influential thought leaders today. She has had the honor of sharing the virtual stage as a featured speaker with many experts such as Mark Victor Hansen, Cynthia Kersey, John Assaraf, and Jack Canfield among others. Her latest book, Life Lessons for Mastering the Law of Attraction, co-authored with Jack Canfield, can be found in bookstores everywhere. Since 1999, Eva has followed inner guidance along with her Spirit-Enriched Business System™ to create a multiple 6-figure business. Her passion is teaching spiritual entrepreneurs how to tap into their own inner guidance and merge it with the practical steps to create healthy, six-figure businesses from a place of purpose, passion and prosperity. Get your FREE REPORT: “Massive Success For Spiritual Entrepreneurs” here. Learn more about how Eva can help you at www.EvaGregory.com.
