A powerful body language can change your life in as little as seven seconds!
We have all heard the phrase that it only takes seven seconds to form an opinion of someone we meet for the first time. That is a very, very short window of time that we really need to be aware of so that we nail it, always!
The other saying “first impression lasts” is also something to bear in mind and before we move on, have a think about it for yourself. Do you normally and instantly form an opinion about people you meet and does that first impression normally last or do you tend to change your impression later on?
By just thinking about the last few people I have met for the first time I am confident first impression lasts! That is one of the main reasons I always want to know as much as possible about the person I will be meeting so that I can make a GREAT (not good) first impression because if I don’t, it will be an uphill struggle!
What to do before and during the first meeting:
- Dress for success and the occasion! You just have to make sure you are dressed for the occasion. It is such a simple step to take and easy thing to do. If I am meeting management in a large corporation and I know they all wear suits, I will wear a suit (if it is a business consultancy assignment). If I am meeting a friend of a friend for the first time, most likely, I won’t wear a suit but something nice. Remember, the first thing they base their opinions on is what they see.
- Research the person and organisation I am meeting. This depends on the purpose and will not help my first impression but it will for sure help me get along with the other person extremely fast. So find out what they like and what you have in common, it’s a great way to get off to a flying start.
- Stand tall and confident! As you enter or approach the person you are meeting, make sure you stand and or walk with confidence!
- Smile :)! The first thing they see is you and your looks. A big friendly and genuine smile works all the time.
- Open your eyes and raise your eye brows to show that you are acknowledging the person and that you are both happy and interested in meeting them.
- A firm and confident handshake (yes you can tell confidence by someone’s handshake) followed by a nice greeting gesture including eye contact.
- A genuine compliment about the persons appearance, office or something unique they have on their desk!
All of these steps you can easily practice at home. On your own or with a friend, it doesn’t matter! Just by knowing the impact it will have on your own future and how simple it is to make a great first impression, make sure you get it done!
Then the following part of the meeting and the level of success will depend on three things:
- Your confidence (your body language will show this)
- Your interest in the other person
- Your knowledge about what the other person wants or needs and how you can solve that for them
As for the actual physical body language, it will come with your confidence in yourself and all people who have goals and make sure they make constant progress all have it! So if you have not started yet, don’t worry, just click here to get going! Leave the other 95% of the population without goals way, way behind…
Your life on your terms is closer than you think but you will have to start taking action!
How I use it?
Just as described in the above points! I have had thousands of meetings (used to work with sales and have physical meetings) so talking from experience here and it sure works 🙂
Why is body language and first impression important?
Small things will have massive impact on your success, you need any other reason?!
A famous and often quoted study by Mehrabian and Wiener concluded that the impression we make when meeting someone is based on:
- 55% body language
- 38% the tone of our voice
- 7% what we actually say
If you start using these simple things by taking care of and think about you appearance and body language, you are doing yourself a massive favor (like jet fuel on a fire)! Body language and motions create emotions and emotions are the game changer because they make us take even more and bigger actions (check out this post on motion)!
By just being aware of the importance of our body language and how to use it, we can set ourselves up for even more and faster success!
By always making sure we take those simple steps above, we will always make a great first impression. We have then laid the foundation for success but it doesn’t stop there. First thing is the impression, which will get us off to a great start. By then knowing how to use the language of our bodies when interacting, we will ensure to further enhance that first impression!
By doing this, we will be strengthening our characters and persona and just by radiating success, much more of that will come our way! Everybody wants to be involved with successful people who are confident and know what they want! If you have set your own clear goals (Burning Desire), you are one giant step closer to massive success!
The way you use you body language affects your whole persona and as we have learned before, a great habit will along with autosuggestions, our Reticular Activating System and our subconscious mind form our blueprint and work in our favour 24/7!
Actions to take:
Watch this great TED talk by Amy Cuddy on the importance of body language and make sure you make use of it!
– Jakob
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