Make a great good first impression
How to making a good first impression
When you walk into the room, you feel like John Travolta. All eyes are on you as “Stayin’ Alive” plays in your mind.(1) Women bat their eyelashes and men look on with envy. At least that’s how you’d like it to be. But since life isn’t like the movies, you need to rely on some other things to make a great first impression at an event.
Smile
It sounds simple, but a big smile is the easiest way to make a good first impression on people. How many times have you skipped over someone’s online profile because their photo looked sullen? Same goes for real life. A genuine grin draws people in. Studies have shown that smiling people give the impression of ‘happy’, ‘well adjusted’ and ‘fun’.
Read:
- Getting Ready for Your Hot Date, How to Get Ready for a Date
- Going After Your Dream Girl? Three Steps to Mastering your Self Confidence
- How to get a date, ask a girl out – dating advice (archely.net)
Grooming
Another basic that too many people still seem to ignore. Spend some time to polish yourself up and you’ll find the people around you will want to spend their time getting to know you better. Make sure your fingernails are clean and/or polished. Men: Trim the facial hair. Your hairstyle can work for you or against you, and the right cut for your face shape and color can make you look ten years younger. If your look hasn’t changed since you graduated high school over a decade ago, or you get stopped on the street mistaken for Dear Abby’s mom or one of the guys from Flock of Seagulls, perhaps a stylish haircut should be in your immediate future.
Stand out… but not too much
Keep an eye on the trends to see what’s hot and what’s not. Choose something that suits you and do your best to make it your own. Remember, the history of pop culture is littered with items like white polyester suits, legwarmers and SUV’s, which seemed like a good idea at the time, but only made their owners regret those decisions in hindsight.
Dress for Success
You’re going to a party, so have fun and dress for the occasion. Men: Leave the beachwear and safari jackets at home. Women: Save the slutty or over-provocative outfits for your volunteer undercover police work. Keep the sunglasses for outdoors, and leave the baseball hats in the trunk of your car. Unflattering, unstylish or frumpy outfits are definitely not going to work for anyone. If you aren’t sure about what you should wear, then ask your most stylish friend to take you clothes shopping. Remember, the right clothes will help you exude confidence, and at a party, that’s always a good thing.
Prepare Yourself
When you speed date, you only have literally a few minutes to stand out, so you need to use that time wisely. If you can prepare a few interesting and original questions ahead of time, you’ll be that far ahead of the game. If everyone else is asking “so what do you do for a living?” you could show off your wacky originality by offering flattering guesses as to what he or she does. “Hmm, I’d ask you what you do for a living, but I can tell from the glow in your cheeks that you must be a seasoned parasailor. Do you give lessons?”
Taboo Subjects
When you rack your mind for clever repartee, it’s always better to err on the safe side if you can help it. Topics or conversational no-no’s that can possibly turn others off are gossip, swearing, not saying please or thank you, your UFO abduction, the thousands you’ve spent on telephone psychics, anything new age, extreme politics or religious beliefs, mentioning that you still live with your parents, your decade long lack of employment, your dysfunctional family, boasting about how you were featured in Tightwad Magazine, complaining about anything, implying anything overtly sexual, talking a subject to death, and (horrors) talking about previous relationships.
Taboo Actions
We know that you already know not to do the following, but you would be surprised at how many folks just might still need a small reminder: Talking with your mouth full, belching, blowing your nose loudly, answering your cell phone in the middle of a conversation, sulking or whining about anything, peppering every sentence with ‘like’, ‘um’, ‘you know’ or ‘and whatnot…’, yelling from across the room, talking too quickly (makes you sound nervous), and talking too slowly (gives off the subtle air of possible brain damage).
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