You Only Get ONE First Impression

Do you put your best foot forward?

A couple of years ago, Norma Rist and I gave a presentation for the Women’s Network entitled Presenting Yourself for Success.  Norma exhibited the “right” way and I…well, I didn’t.  It was all in fun, but it was to represent a point – people make judgments about your ability to provide value long before you start talking.

When men attend a meeting they enter the room – shake a few hands, have a little easy banter conversation, come almost empty handed, sit in a prominent location and with very little fuss – are ready to participate (or dominate, as the personality dictates).

Women come with a briefcase, purse, drink, laptop, notepads, pencils, documents they’ve reviewed and set up camp. 

Men come in, sit and are ready with almost no movements.

Women enter, fuss, fidget, set up house and after 7-10 movements are finally ready.

No one has spoken, and yet the men appear more confident and prepared because of the lack of fuss.

The woman is prepared for anything and yet because of all her gyrations – appears inadequate.

Now that may be a gross exaggeration, but the point remains – we send messages about our professionalism with our body language, our dress and our demeanor long before we open our mouth.

And then when we do speak -

How many of you women reading this have started to offer a comment by saying “This may sound silly…”  or “I don’t know if this makes sense, but…” or “I hate to interrupt, but…”

So here are a few things to think about for creating a professional first impression when you attend a meeting based on the handout from the presentation that Norma and I prepared:

STEPPING UP IN BUSINESS

Etiquette in Corporate Meetings 

Behavior

?       How do you enter a room?

?       Dress a little more professional than the dress code for the meeting

?       Arrive early/Leave late

?       Greeting/Shaking hands

?       Voice – confidence

?       Body Language – take up space

Communications

?       Leave the disclaimers at home

?       Learn the language – acronyms, sport analogies, business terms, industry jargon

?       Forget the empty adjectives (i.e. terrible, marvelous, always, never)

?       Be an active listener – look at who is speaking, all the time, every time

?       Save your comments – wait until 80% of the conversation has taken place before offering one insightful comment

Safe Conversations

?       Vacations you’ve taken or plan to take

?       Sports – unless you root for the Steelers and you are at a Brown’s event

?       Boats – trains – plans – automobiles

?       Ask questions

Prepare in Advance

?       Read all of the material sent in advance, then leave it at home

?       If you don’t understand the material – get help before entering the meeting

?       Watch other’s behavior for the example to follow

?       Take care where you sit

What tips have you used to create a confident first impression?  Take a moment to observe how people enter a room and participate in the next meeting you attend.  Are you making judgments based on their non-verbal behavior?