'Don't kiss' Tricks to making good first impressions

Piece by: Queen Serem
Lifestyle

You will judge people after seeing them for the very first time. Well, a behavioral and body language expert has revealed her simple tricks for making a great first impression in just 15 seconds.

'15 to 30 seconds is all you've got for someone to decide if they want to listen to you or not so it's all about tone, infliction, diction, articulation, power of pause, pace, smile and engagement,'

So how can you make this work? Below are some of the tricks.

* Be mindful of personal body space, you don't want to run up to someone and kiss them if they don't want that 

* Don't stand so far away that you need to raise your voice to speak

* Treat the person like you would treat a friend 

* Master small talk by speaking to them about themselves and their accomplishments - people love talking about themselves

* If the conversation is drying up, excuse yourself to 'go to the bathroom' or to 'get some food'

* Dress in an outfit that makes you feel confident as the brain is wired to behave based on how you feel in a look

* Stand tall, never have your arms folded and have a 'pleasant disposition'

She  explained that you have to think about why people would want to stop to listen to you in the first place.

'Are you inspiring their curiosity? Are you exciting them? Captivating them? Delighting them? What is it that gets them to want to keep listening to you?' She said. 

It is also vital that you engage the space with open body language, make eye contact and avoid kissing or hugging during a first meeting as that kind of contact makes many people feel uncomfortable.

'Be mindful of personal body space, you don't want to run up to someone and kiss them if they don't want that but you don't want to be so far apart that you're shouting your "hi" either,' She said. 

Many people find small talk challenging but Grazina explained that the simple secret is treating the person you're talking to 'like a friend'.

On top of this, she recommends filling in the time talking about the other person.

'People love chatting about themselves so the minute you get them chatting, the small talk becomes about them, and you become way more interesting,' she said.

If you've reached the moment of the conversation where you're no longer entertained, Grazina said you simply need to 'run away' to get food or go to the bathroom.

Grazina added it's important to dress in something that will make you feel confident as she explained that brains are wired to 'start behaving in correlation to what you're wearing'.

'Feel good in what you're wearing and if you feel good you will ooze in confidence,' she said.