Four Easy Ways To Make A Memorable First Impression
That firm handshake
is great, but it's what you say next—and how you say it—that matters more.
You already know the basics of leaving a polished first
impression, like dressing well, making eye contact, and having a firm
handshake. That's great advice, but it's probably not enough. If you really
want to be memorable (for the right reasons), you need to think about what you
say and how you say it. Here are a few straightforward pointers that many
people miss.
In The Godfather,
Michael Corleone tells his brother, "It’s not personal, Sonny. It’s
strictly business." Well, a good first impression should be both
personal and "business." If you connect only at a
personal level, you risk seeming unprofessional or irrelevant to whatever
business context you may find yourself in. But if you connect only at
a business level, you’ll be relevant, but you won’t be nearly as memorable.
A good first impression
should be both personal and "business."
Fortunately, you don't have to make a trade-off. I just had a
phone conversation with a potential client from Berlin who worked in the
construction industry. Instead of just saying, "Oh, I’ve worked with many
clients in the construction industry," I tried to connect with him on a
more personal level. We ended up discussing construction generally, then landed
on the subject of building walls, touching on everything from the Great Wall of
China to the Berlin Wall.
These were unplanned digressions—but that's the point. I'm
confident he will remember our conversation not just because I connected on a
business level, but because I connected on a personal level. And best of all,
you can do this without knowing much about the person you're speaking with
beforehand. My client had grown up in Berlin and worked in construction, so it
wasn't totally unusual that we'd discuss the Berlin Wall—something very well
known that might have some personal (not just business) relevance for him. Sure
enough, it did.
Public speakers and writers are often counseled to use compelling
facts and figures to grab audiences' attention, but the same technique can work
in one-on-one conversations, too. If you're able to impress someone with a data
point they’ve never heard before, they're likely to remember you—no matter what
the context.
And the more relevant the
statistic is to their business concerns, the better. For example, a client who
works in staffing recently told me that his firm was able to consistently
predict whether or not employees would be successful after 13 weeks of work.
Not 12 weeks, not 14 weeks, but 13 weeks—the specificity of
that time frame stuck with me. The statistic wasn't only interesting, as he
gave me an insight that may be important to me as I keep growing my own business.
It doesn't have to be a business-related stat, though. Offer the
person you're speaking with an interesting fact that they can use in their
personal life. You can also make an impression with basically any kind of a thought-provoking
insight that they’ll want to tell people outside of work. To point is just to
be interesting.
For example: Did you know that people born blind gesture in ways
that are similar to sighted people? When I first heard that, I was fascinated. You
won't want to drop a "did you know?" as a complete non sequitur, but
as long as you're keeping the conversation a mix of business and personal,
there should be a natural opportunity to weave in an interesting idea or two
that might not have any direct connections to your work. If you succeed at
that, they'll be more likely to remember you.
Finally, if you want to make a memorable first impression, keep
your speaking pithy. Pack as much punch into as few words as possible. If
you’re too long-winded, you might be memorable, but not in a good way—people
will just want to escape your clutches.
I was recently at a party when a man came up to me and said,
"I like your bauble." I was wearing a five-carat blue topaz necklace,
one of my most prized pieces of jewelry, from Hong Kong. It was such an unusual
way to compliment my necklace, but I could tell he meant it sincerely. Still,
the ambiguity and slight edge of his remark has stuck with me, and I remember
our interaction clearly.
Making a good first impression is about more than a look or a
handshake. It’s about establishing a strong connection in just a few short
minutes of conversation. That leaves you with only a short time frame to
surprise, delight, and intrigue the person you're speaking with, but with these
four strategies, you can do that pretty quickly and with just a little
preparation.
ANETT GRANT
https://www.fastcompany.com/3066553/four-easy-ways-to-make-a-memorable-first-impression
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