how to make a great first impression
TRANSCRIPT
How to Make a Great First Impression
You only have one chance to make a First impression
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By:Marketing Team, SMT
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A REINVENT YOURSELFDefine your Brand, Imagine your Future
WE MAKE JUDGEMENT IN NANOSECONDAbout other people
DISRUPT YOURSELFPutting the power of Disrupting Innovation to work.
Disrupting Innovation is the Key
Reinvent Yourself
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What the Experts Say
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WHAT EXPERTS SAY
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PREPARE TALKING POINTS
BE AWARE OF YOUR BODY LANGUAGE
PLAY TO YOUR STRENGTHS
FIND SOMETHING IN COMMON
ENGAGE AND BE ENGAGING
06 FOLLOW UP
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PREPARE TALKING POINTS
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• Do Your Home work• Know who you’re meeting• Know what he cares about• Know what he might need from you
• Show that YOU understand the problem the other person is trying to solve
• Show how your skill put YOU in a position to help
OBSERVE YOURSELF BEFORE & AFTER
STAY CONFIDENT & COMFORTABLE
TAKE LONG STRIDES, SIT UP STRAIGHT
WALK WITH YOUR CHEST HELD HIGH
YOUR BODY LANGUAGE
Be Aware of
It is useful to have a ‘TRUSTED CABINET’ of friends & Colleagues who can help you understand
‘ How you come across to the WORLD”
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PLAY TO YOUR STRENGTHS
THE MOST LIKABLE THING
ABOUT YOU.
STRENGTHS. WINNING TRAITS
QUALITIES
DON’T TOOT YOUR OWN HORN, PRESENT EVIDENCE THAT TOOTS IT FOR YOU
IDENTIFY
Créate Memorable Conversati
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Do not wow & Dazzle
Ask open- ended questio
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ENGAGE & BE ENGAGING
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DO:-------------------
ASK QUESTIONS & TRY TO DRAW OUT OTHER PERSONTHE BETTER YOU MAKE THEM FEEL, THE MORE LIKELY THEY ARE TO HAVE A POSITIVE IMPRESSION OF YOU
BODY LANGUAGE: WATCH ANXIETY LEVELSBY PREPARING TALKING POINTS TO GET ACROSS DURING YOUR MEETING.
GATHER FEEDBACKFROM TRUSTED COLLEGUES ON YOUR BEST TRAITS AND TRY TO EMPHASIZE YOUR STRENGTHS WHEN YOU MEET SOMEONE NEW02
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WATCH OUT -------------------
EVIDENCEInstead present evidence that speaks to your domain expertise and managerial experience
BODY LANGUAGEYour body language should be relaxed, confident and comfortable
DISCOUNT SMALL TALKSIt can be a good way to uncover common bonds02
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CASE STUDY 1Case Study #1: Do your homework on who you’re meeting and engage the person as a human
Mike Byers, executive chairman of DirectPath, an employee health care engagement and compliance company, says that when he’s meeting a prospective client for the first time, he takes the long view. “I think about building a relationship, not selling software,” he says. “I think, ‘I’m going to be with this person for a long time.’”Mike recognizes that he’s in the meeting because the other person “has a business problem, and I have a potential solution,” but his main focus—at least at first—“is to get to know the other person as a human being and develop a relationship.”He does this in a variety of ways. First, he does his homework on who he’s meeting prior to seeing the person face to face. Once, for instance, he had a sales call with a Nebraska-based HR executive who, Mike saw from his LinkedIn profile, was originally from the Boston area. “I walked into the meeting with Red Sox paraphernalia [as a gift],” he says. “His eyes lit up and he said, ‘You can’t get this stuff out here.’ It immediately disarmed him and made him more open.”Second, he makes sure his body language is confident and relaxed. “And I always look people in the eye,” he says.Third, Mike engages would-be clients in personal conversation. “People love talking about themselves,” he says, adding that it’s often more fun anyhow to “talk about people’s lives than about benefit administration platforms. “I say, ‘Tell me about yourself. What are your interests? How old are your kids?’ I try to create dialogue, not a sales pitch.”A few years ago, for instance, he was in a meeting with “Mary,” a senior manager at a Fortune 10 company. “I mentioned that my son had just been accepted to law school and she told me that her niece was interested in applying. That helped create a bond,” he says.“We spent half the meeting talking about law school—LSAT review classes, rankings, and career [prospects]—and the other half talking about my company’s technology.”Mike ultimately made the sale and he and Mary have a strong professional relationship.
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CASE STUDY 2
Case Study #2: Know what you’re good at and prepare a list of talking points
Before a recent job interview at a fashion retailer outside of Boston, Lane Sutton did a lot of prep work so that he’d make a good impression on the hiring managers. “I do not get nervous for interviews. I think of an interview as a conversation, just with more importance and with someone I have not met yet,” he says.Friends and former colleagues have told Lane that he’s an “ideas man,” and he wanted to make sure that came across during his meetings. To prepare, Lane researched the job—a social media role for talent acquisition—by reviewing the company’s social media channels, its careers site, and its Glassdoor page. He then brainstormed a list of “creative and innovative ideas” for the company to grow and enhance its employer brand to attract talent. Those were his talking points. His goal was to show that he was eager to “go above and beyond what was in the job description.”Lane also researched the interviewers and found that one of them was a graduate of his university. “I made a point to mention that at the beginning of the interview, and it broke the ice.”Lane also tried to engage his interviewers by asking them about their career paths and histories at the company. “This question lets them talk about themselves beyond your basic interview questions,” he says.During the interview, Lane made sure to bring up his list of ideas and recommended improvements. “To get my points across, I answered with a general answer to the question and a specific action example backed by data and numbers,” he says. “For instance, ‘At my last company, I increased website visits from Facebook by 100%.’”He finds out next month if he got the job.
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Thank you!