First impression you make only once

First impression you make only once

Communication, Image, Personal Branding

“First impression is an idea, feeling or opinion about a person formed without conscious thought or on the basis of little evidence.”

We deeply believe that it is our character and personality that counts, but the reality is that people make judgements about who we are based on first impression. It is not always the most accurate representation. And because it is formed in very short time and based on a very little information, it is always related to the other persons personal experience. Hence it is someone’s perception of you and not a real image. The accuracy of the image increases with the time. With every event or meeting with that person, we gather more information and that brings more clarity to whom he or she is.

We need to think about first impression as a snapshot, a snapshot that captures the moment and nothing else. And those few first seconds are sufficient to make a conclusion about fresh acquaintances. The first impression is created in seconds at the very first encounter – either in person or over the phone or even via email or website. Surprisingly, it has a lasting effect, as we reckon it impacts the way we perceive the person in 60%.

First Impression - ask yourself

 

First impression is also about the initial feeling people have meeting you. How you make them feel is more important than what you are saying. Your appearance together with your body language and the tone of your voice create the atmosphere of the meeting. You can make others feel comfortable and relaxed or stressed and pressured. Think of how people respond to you.

From the scientific point of view, our brain is a thousand years old structure. Thanks to the increased use of our brain capability, we evolved as homo sapiens. But many reactions were inherited from our ancestors, like the one that allows our brain to recognize another human as a threat or friend in a few milliseconds. It has been trained for a thousand years to judge the situation and react very quickly based on little information.

The first impression is not the same for various people. They heavily depend on their expectations, prejudices, beliefs and stereotypes. We all have a tendency to interpret situations, events and objects in our own unique way and the distortion of opinion is the result of personal experience. In the same way we differ in interpreting another person’s appearance and behavior. It is not always a bad thing, it makes life interesting and meeting people an exciting experience.

What we need to remember is that to every person their own opinion looks real, true and solid. While it is only an illusion, their perception is their reality.

 

The importance of non verbal communication

The importance of non verbal communication

Communication

“Body language is the process of using facial expressions, gestures, gaze, tone of voice and postures in order to send and receive non-verbal messages.”

Language, as a form of communication, is quite a recent discovery. Considering the history of a mankind, and while it is still a matter of discussion, we can estimate it to few hundred thousand years. Prior to that time most of our communication was similar to those of other animals – understanding and sending nonverbal cues. Humans are the only animals on Earth that developed a complicated language structure and a vocabulary, in English language*, as an example, exceeding six digit number.

In everyday life you use usually 2500 words to communicate effectively in a wide range of social and practical situations. To be able to communicate in foreign language you need around 1000 words. And in case you do not speak a foreign language and you are in a situation you need to communicate, you manage to find a way to do so. Why? Because body language is universal. It was common to our ancestors and is part of our subconscious behavior.

Facial expressions, body movements, gestures are common to all humans in all cultures. Some gestures and reactions are inborn, and they are universal around the world. Others are typical to the culture or ethnic group, are learned by observation and some are refined with age and use.

Fear, happiness, anger are not expressed by words but by our bodies. Non verbal signs can reveal much about your feelings and meaning to others and how others reveal their feelings toward you. Being aware of your body language can help you express your feelings and emotions in a better way, can also help you to be in control of the way you show and communicate your emotions.

Unlike the spoken language, body language does not consist of vocabulary and set of grammatical rules. To understand it, you need to remember about the three rules when reading and interpreting nonverbal communication elements:

1. Read gestures in clusters – only when having big picture you can get the right information

2. Look for congruence – elements that correspond with each other, there should be a harmony between the spoken and non-spoken message

3. Read gestures in context – this one is probably the most important, always interpret behavior in its context, you simply cannot single out a gesture

 

*The number of words in the English language is :  1,019,729.6.  This is the estimate by the Global Language Monitor for January 1, 2012 although The Second Edition of the 20-volume  Oxford English Dictionary contains full entries for 171,476 words.