How to Make a Good First Impression?

Posted on September 26, 2019 by Ela Barucija, One of Thousands of Life Coaches on Noomii.

How to make a good first impression? They say that the first impression is everything. Maybe we could say that this is an overstatement but the initial meeting with a new person and that first impression is important.

Maybe you said something wrong or acted oddly when meeting someone for the first time. It’s normal and you shouldn’t worry about it. It can be pretty uncomfortable meeting someone for the first time but if you don’t leave a good first impression, not all is lost. First impressions are hard, and they are not easy to nail each time when we meet someone. However, we can help with a few tips.

The first thing to keep in mind is that there is not a lot of time to make a first impression. People often decide whether to trust someone or not within less than a second of meeting them. What if your first impression is not that good? That might stick with the other person for quite some time, but it’s not all lost. You have time to show your true self to someone if you have more time to talk to them. If not, here are a few helpful tips.

Let’s take a few steps back. You are meeting someone for the first time, what do you do? For starters, smile, make eye contact, stand up straight and ask them questions about themselves (meaning show that you are a good listener). If there is only one thing to keep in mind it is this. Smile, eye contact, good posture, and listen. Well, that’s more than one thing. Although this looks easy on paper and we know that it is difficult to juggle these things all at once when we are meeting someone for the first time.
According to a study from the University of Waterloo, there is one, important thing to keep in mind to make a good impression and to get people to like you right from the start. If you are meeting someone for the first time, it’s important to think that person already likes you and they probably will. The power of self-confidence is all that matters sometimes.

Just anticipating that someone will like you can act as a self-fulfilling prophecy. The authors of the study say:

“If people expect acceptance, they will behave warmly, which in turn will lead other people to accept them; if they expect rejection, they will behave coldly, which will lead to less acceptance.”

Still, let’s keep in mind that only believing that everyone will like you doesn’t mean that everyone will agree. Sometimes it’s hard to think like that about yourself. However, positive self talk will do the trick to boost your self-confidence and make you more likable.

Another study from 2015, published by the Society for Personality and Social Psychology found that self-affirmations have the power to boost your confidence and to calm your nerves, which is super important if you are meeting someone who you really admire or someone who you wanted to meet for a long time.

Angie Morgan, a co-author of “SPARK: How to Lead Yourself and Others to Greater Success” and co-founder of a leadership consulting firm said:

“Confidence isn’t a skill, it’s an emotion. You can manage it. In fact, unpacking your confidence is a part of self-efficacy.” Regarding positive self-talk specifically, Morgan says, “Our words run through our brains reckless and unchecked. Get rid of thoughts like, ‘I’m lucky to be here’ and ‘I hope I do well.’ Instead, say to yourself, ‘(Confidence) is a thing, and I can manage it.’”

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