First impressions last

Imagine you are working in a booth at an expo. It is way past lunchtime and you still haven’t got around to eat. You are tired. Your feet hurt. The last visitor was a drag. And as you turn around, a new visitor approaches you…

Now imagine that you are the visitor instead.

Quick now: Which one of these two persons do you like the most?

My hunch? You like person A better than B.

Looking at the two a bit closer, you do realize something, don’t you?

We tend to focus a lot more on the first bit of information, the first impression than on the rest. This is called the primacy effect. And first impressions last. As much as 70% of first impressions will not change, according to The Center of Body Language.

You can use this to your advantage. When you meet a new person with an open body language, a genuine smile, (where the corners of your mouth are symmetrically upwards, and your eyelids goes down and creates little wrinkles) and you look at them, they will feel welcome. That’s a great first impression!

Or you miss out on the opportunity and create a bad first impression, giving you an uphill battle for a long time.

A great first impression is a perfect way to act and behave in a booth, when presenting or when greeting a new customer or any new people in any situations.

Let me end with what a friend said when I met him in Cancun, a while back:

”Life is too short for bad beginnings”

Good luck with your first impressions

//Antoni