{"id":66715,"date":"2022-05-18T09:39:00","date_gmt":"2022-05-18T13:39:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/?p=66715"},"modified":"2022-05-25T13:20:37","modified_gmt":"2022-05-25T17:20:37","slug":"how-to-make-a-good-first-impression","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/how-to-make-a-good-first-impression\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Make a Good First Impression Every Time"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>How do you make a good first impression? What role does <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/body-language-crucial-conversations\/\">body language<\/a> play in people&#8217;s first impressions of you? <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>To make a positive first impression, you must pay attention to your body language and the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/nonverbal-cues\/\">nonverbal signals<\/a> you\u2019re emitting. Even before you had the chance to open your mouth, people have already formed an impression of you based on your facial expressions and the way you move. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Keep reading to learn how to make a good first impression, according to communications expert Leil Lowndes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<!--more-->\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-how-to-make-a-positive-first-impression\"><strong>How to Make a Positive First Impression<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>In his book<em> How to Talk to Anyone<\/em>, communications expert Leil Lowndes explains how to make a good first impression. The key, she says, is your body language. The nonverbal signals contribute to more than 80% of people\u2019s first impressions of you and influence the way they react to you.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>(Shortform note: While it\u2019s true that body language massively influences people\u2019s first impressions of you, there\u2019s no scientific evidence supporting the exact percentage breakdown Lowndes provides. Those who quote numbers on this subject are usually <a href=\"https:\/\/www.psychologytoday.com\/us\/blog\/beyond-words\/201109\/is-nonverbal-communication-numbers-game\">mischaracterizing mid-1960s research by Albert Mehrabian<\/a>, who claimed that 93% of communication is nonverbal\u2014including <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/unconscious-communication\/\">body language and tone<\/a> of voice\u2014and only 7% is verbal. However, this formula was created for a specific context\u2014to reduce uncertainty in understanding people who send mixed verbal and nonverbal signals. Therefore, your body\u2019s signals may not carry as much weight as Lowndes argues when it comes to first impressions.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-your-body-language-communicates-everything-about-you\"><strong>Your Body Language Communicates Everything About You<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Lowndes argues that you form an instinctive impression of everyone you come across within the first few seconds of <em>seeing<\/em> them. Before someone gets a chance to utter her first words, you\u2019ve already made assumptions about her personality, her feelings, her confidence levels, and her social or professional status. Most importantly, you\u2019ve already decided whether she\u2019s the type of person that you want to spend time with. Likewise, <strong>people make assumptions about whether they want to talk to you as soon as they set their eyes on you<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>(Shortform note: Research expands upon what Lowndes says about instinctive impressions: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sciencedaily.com\/releases\/2011\/04\/110415104544.htm\">Your first impressions of others are reasonably accurate indicators of whether or not you\u2019ll get along with them<\/a>. One study compared the first impressions of strangers meeting a person\u2014who we\u2019ll call Person A\u2014to personality reports on Person A completed by their longtime friends. The first impressions were similar to the personality reports by longtime friends, showing that the strangers\u2019 assumptions were accurate.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>What forms the basis of these assumptions? According to Lowndes, it\u2019s your body language\u2014this includes your posture, how comfortable you appear, the way you smile, and the way you make eye contact. Whether you\u2019re conscious of it or not, your body language constantly emits signals about the way you feel.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>How do you make a good first impression? What role does body language play in people&#8217;s first impressions of you? To make a positive first impression, you must pay attention to your body language and the nonverbal signals you\u2019re emitting. Even before you had the chance to open your mouth, people have already formed an impression of you based on your facial expressions and the way you move. Keep reading to learn how to make a good first impression, according to communications expert Leil Lowndes.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":64082,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[34,9],"tags":[620],"class_list":["post-66715","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-communication","category-psychology","tag-how-to-talk-to-anyone","","tg-column-two"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v24.3 (Yoast SEO v24.3) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>How to Make a Good First Impression Every Time - Shortform Books<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"First impressions are everything. Here, communications expert Leil Lowndes explains how to make a good first impression on everyone you meet.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/how-to-make-a-good-first-impression\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"How to Make a Good First Impression Every Time\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"First impressions are everything. Here, communications expert Leil Lowndes explains how to make a good first impression on everyone you meet.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/how-to-make-a-good-first-impression\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Shortform Books\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2022-05-18T13:39:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2022-05-25T17:20:37+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/wordpress.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/confident-woman-smiling-with-confidence.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"630\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Darya Sinusoid\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Darya Sinusoid\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/how-to-make-a-good-first-impression\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/how-to-make-a-good-first-impression\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Darya Sinusoid\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/0421cce75bc249b11e2517b3a91f9c46\"},\"headline\":\"How to Make a Good First Impression Every Time\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-05-18T13:39:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-05-25T17:20:37+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/how-to-make-a-good-first-impression\/\"},\"wordCount\":487,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/how-to-make-a-good-first-impression\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/confident-woman-smiling-with-confidence.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"How to Talk to Anyone\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Communication\",\"Psychology\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/how-to-make-a-good-first-impression\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/how-to-make-a-good-first-impression\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/how-to-make-a-good-first-impression\/\",\"name\":\"How to Make a Good First Impression Every Time - Shortform Books\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/how-to-make-a-good-first-impression\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/how-to-make-a-good-first-impression\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/confident-woman-smiling-with-confidence.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-05-18T13:39:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-05-25T17:20:37+00:00\",\"description\":\"First impressions are everything. 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