How To Leave A Good First Impression Anywhere [Best Advice]

How can you leave a good first impression? In this article you will discover what it takes to always leave a good first impression. We will talk about, among other things, leaving a good impression at work, in social situations, during dating and coaching! Read further…

Guest contribution by Sander

The first impression is quite important …

It only takes a few seconds … Even if someone glances at you, it already happens. After three seconds, a first impression is made. Based on your appearance, body language, behavior and how you are dressed .

With every new meeting a new judgment is made. Someone has a certain impression of you and his or her opinion is immediately formed. It is quite difficult to undo a first impression. They often set the tone for further understanding.

In this article, we’ll share some tips to make a good first impression . You learn how to look good, for example during dating, applying for a job, social situations and more.

During a job interview: Be relaxed

What could be more exciting than an interview? For many this causes quite a few nerves. Often a lot depends on it – namely a possible new job – and thus bread on the shelf. As with dating, it’s important to keep an open mind . This makes you accessible and makes you look more confident .

In addition, the nerves can play tricks on you. Therefore, adopt a relaxed posture. A simple breathing exercise – such as breathing in and out six times deeper before the conversation – can help reduce stress. This is a tip from the book  Own the Day, own your life .

If you often suffer from stress in such situations, it may make sense to anchor the emotion “relaxed” . We will explain this later in this article.

While dating: Be open and confident

You and your date look at each other, sense each other and form an opinion about each other. You want to appear good. Confident, but not arrogant. Funny, but not as a clown either. Dating can be exciting. You are constantly judging each other.

A number of bullets for a good first impression:

• You make a good first impression when dating by dressing for the occasion.
• It is also important to adopt an open posture. So don’t cross your arms and crossed legs can also send the wrong signal.
• In addition, make sure you are confident – not arrogant – but just have confidence in yourself. You do this by keeping your head up and your shoulders slightly pushed back. Or, as Jordan Peterson says, “Stand up straight with your shoulders back” .

This is difficult for many people. Because how can you become confident on demand? You will read about anchoring an emotion later in this article. Self-confidence is a state of mind that you can create in this way. Wherever and whenever you want.

As a sales person: Talk easily

As a seller you want to make a good impression to land the potential customer. We can build rapport with people who are social and easy going. You may be thinking now; “Okay, but I’m an introvert, I don’t talk easy.” That’s totally fine, I’m also an introvert by nature. You will never become an extremely outgoing person, but you can use some tricks to appear a little more outgoing.

One such trick is: dare to ask questions. Show interest. Do you want to approach someone, but you don’t know what to say? Ask a Question.

When people talk about themselves, they feel heard, then you can probably keep talking to that person without it getting awkward. Has the other person answered your question and is there a threat of silence? Then continue asking based on the answer you received. Soon you will see; everyone has something interesting to say, as long as you give them space.

As a salesperson you can ask smart questions to find out what possible objections are in the sales process. Consider questions such as:

• What does the ideal situation look like?
• What obstacles do you experience in getting to that situation?
• What tools have you already used to create that situation?
• What would it be like if I started helping you achieve that ideal situation?

This way you discover the dream result of the customer, what he encountered and what he has already tried to solve the problem. Valuable input for the rest of the sales conversation!

As a coach: Be polite and considerate

As a coach you can make a good first impression by being polite of course. Friendly, yet professional. You also want to be considerate; perhaps the coachee has said something important during a previous session, ask about it.

Even being thoughtful can be anchored with the technique you will soon learn – try it out right away!

As in the tips on dating, as a coach you want to be well dressed and have an open attitude. You want to invite the coachee to talk about themselves. After all, in a good coaching conversation, the coachee is speaking more than 80% of the time.

What also helps, of course, is a professional coaching room. Don’t have a budget to buy or rent a space on a monthly basis? There are various options for renting a flexible coaching space. This way you save costs and you can only occupy a space when you have a coachee visiting.

As a freelancer: Be yourself

In fact, this advice applies in all situations. Don’t pretend to be different than you are. It takes a lot of energy to keep a mask on. It is tiring. Moreover, sooner or later people will see through it. Most importantly, people probably respect your authentic self the most. Be yourself.

Especially as a freelancer you don’t have to pretend to be bigger than you are. Potential customers understand that they are dealing with a person. Use the power of expectation management  by pre be honest about what the other all not to expect.

Everyone has their limitations and you don’t have to hide them from potential customers – be open, honest and yourself. In fact, people often appreciate this enormously and this creates a better mutual bond.

Leaving a good impression: NLP basics

As you have just read, a good first impression is often about body language and posture. If you are not feeling well, it becomes difficult to come across as confident and strong. Or not then?

That is exactly why we rely on NLP. We’re going to use anchors to make sure you make a crushing impression.

Exercise: Making an anchor

To ensure that you are in the right state of mind, we will anchor a desired feeling. Are you familiar with this technique or have you never created an anchor before? In both cases this is going to be very interesting for you!

1. Choose a positive emotion that you want to experience – for example, feeling confident.
2. Sit in a chair and put your right hand on or around your left wrist.
3. Bring to mind a vivid memory from the past in which you experienced this emotion (feeling confident). See what you saw, hear what you heard, smell what you smelled then and feel what you felt.
4. When you are completely back in this experience – fully associated – squeeze your wrist gently. Do this a few times as you live the experience.
5. Then release your wrist. Change position or, for example, just walk around. Then sit down again.
6. In the same way, place your right hand on or around your left wrist and press gently again. If the stimulus from step 3 is well anchored, you will immediately become aware of the associated memory and emotion. If not, repeat the first steps until the anchor is strong enough.

From now on, if you need the emotion (in the example that is self-assurance), place your right hand on or around your left wrist and press gently again. Incidentally, it does not matter for effectiveness which part of the body is used as an anchor. Does the anchor lose its effectiveness over time? Then you can just reapply it the same way.

Here you will find additional information about anchoring.  For now you can apply this technique in practice!

So… want to make a good impression? Invoke the desired feeling in you

By anchoring emotions you can easily evoke the desired emotion or  state of mind . This is extremely useful for making a stunning first impression. And you know what they say: “You never get a second chance for a first impression.” 😉

Have an open attitude. Radiate confidence. Relax through breathing exercises. Use your anchor. Dress appropriately and be polite and considerate. And above all, be yourself.