How to Make a Great First Impression

In any circumstance, it is crucial to be conscious of how you are presenting yourself. Yes, it is particularly crucial when it comes to making a great first impression. Within the first few seconds of meeting someone, they will have established an opinion of you which won’t likely change. According to body language expert Vanessa Van Edwards, “we decide if we believe someone, if we like someone, and if we trust someone before we have even heard him or her speak.”¹ If your intention is to make a great impression, focus on your nonverbal communication including your body language, facial expressions, hand gestures and your tone of voice.

Albert Mehrabian, a psychology professor from UCLA set out to discover what factors cause us to like or dislike others. In doing so, he established the 7-38-55 rule of communication which states that 7% of a message is delivered by spoken words, 38% is delivered through our tone of voice and 55% is conveyed through body language and facial expressions.² More recently, experts estimate that 70-80% of communication is nonverbal.³

Being conscious of your nonverbal communication is clearly necessary to make a great first impression. There are specific confidence gestures you can use when meeting someone for the first time including standing tall with your arms behind your back, maintaining eye contact and using the steeple gesture. In addition, hand gestures help you effectively communicate your message to others which include signaling numbers, describing an increase or decrease or displaying two differentiating ideas. In addition to body language, nonverbal communication accounts for the majority of how we communicate, which includes increased eye contact, smiling, hand gestures, nods and time spent talking. Use of these nonverbal cues increases the perception that a person is motivated and has highly developed social skills. 

There are basics to cover when it comes to making a great first impression, and you may only have a couple seconds to make it count. To convey friendliness and confidence: 

• Smile 
• Keep hands visible and open to signal trust
• Maintain a strong, straight posture
• Maintain open body language

How Smiling Can Make you More Memorable

Smiling gives others the impression that you are approachable, friendly and trustworthy. Researchers from Duke University showed how individuals who smile upon first impression are more likeable and more memorable.⁴ Duke researchers presented photographs of smiling people and told the study participants their names. The subjects were later presented with only the names and had to connect which names matched with the correct photograph of the individual. The subjects were faster and more accurate in connecting the names to the faces of those individuals who smiled. Additionally, using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), the researchers found that the orbitofrontal cortices (an area of the brain associated with rewards) was activated when subjects were learning and recalling the names of the individuals who smiled. What this tells us is that the reward center of the brain is activated when we encounter smiling individuals because it benefits us to interact with kind people.

Smile

People are considered more motivated with higher social skills when they smile more.⁵ The key is to smile an appropriate amount. Smiling too much can negatively impact your first impression, it can seem inauthentic and can cause you to be perceived as submissive. Smile when you first meet, when you shake hands, throughout the conversation at appropriate times and smile warmly when you say goodbye.

Handshake

A handshake can signal your confidence and whether or not you are meek or aggressive. If you shake someone’s hand and come in like a dead fish, requiring them to hold your limp hand up, you will come off as meek which is likely not the impression you want to give off. In contrast, squeezing the handshake too tight can come off as too aggressive. Body language expert Vanessa Van Edwards states “a firm, straight up and down handshake is most favorable.”⁶ People may try to dominate the handshake. If someone is superior in the handshake by taking the upper hand position forcing your hand to the bottom, prepare for their exertion of power and authority. 

Stand Tall, Keep Your Hands Out & Keep Your Head Up

The visibility of your hands, how you gesture with your hands, your posture and how your feet are situated all play a role in your first impression. Having your hands open and visible signals trust and using your hands to accentuate your message as you speak will engage your listener. Maintaining a strong straight posture conveys confidence and authority. In order to not get caught up and distracted by every way you’re holding your body, all you have to do is keep your head straight up, relax and open your shoulders and maintain a straight posture, because these nonverbal behaviours signal confidence and strength.⁶ 

Get in a Calm & Confident State

When you are anxious, angry, or sad your body language will show it and your tone of voice will convey it. The people around you will pick up on your nervous or negative state and it will not serve as a good first impression. Take a couple deep breaths, to calm yourself and prime yourself with confidence through power poses. 

Prime Yourself with Power Poses

The easiest way to physiologically get yourself in a calm and confident state is to power pose. Expansive power poses enable you to feel self-assured, assertive and reduces feelings of stress and anxiety. By posing in a superman pose or a victory pose (feet hip-width apart with your arms making a V above your head) for just a couple of minutes, you will feel confident and powerful. Prior to your first impression, find a quiet spot and pose for two minutes to physiologically alter your state. 

Keep your body language open, not constrictive. Avoid crossing your arms in front of your chest because it is contractive and does the opposite of a power pose by reducing assertiveness and increasing anxiety. You will feel less confident, less powerful and it signals to others you are not open to engaging with them. 

Don’t Be a Bag Lady

You want to come off as sharp, organized, smooth and slick. If your first impression involves a meeting, try to only carry one bag, if you have an extra bag, leave it somewhere and pick it up after the initial greeting. Even a laptop bag and a purse are too much – choose one. Don’t go in with all your jackets or umbrellas either, leave your coat in the car, or in the lobby with the receptionist. You want to give the impression that you are smooth and in control, “research has found that when people carry more than one item, they look disorganized, messy and scattered.”⁶ 

To make a great first impression, prime yourself to be in a calm and confident state, hold a strong confident posture and smile!

1 Edwards, Vanessa Van. Captivate: the Science of Succeeding with People. Portfolio Penguin, 2018.

2 Albert Mehrabian, Silent Messages: Implicit Communication of Emotions and Attitudes, 2nd ed. (Belmont, CA: Wadsworth, 1981), and Albert Mehrabian, Nonverbal Communication (Chicago: Aldine-Atherton, 1972).

3 Hull, Raymond H. The Art of Nonverbal Communication in Practice. The Hearing Journal, 69, no. 5, 22-24 (2016). doi: 10.1097/01.HJ.0000483270.59643.cc

4 Tsukiura T, Cabeza R. Orbitofrontal and hippocampal contributions to memory for face-name associations: the rewarding power of a smile. Neuropsychologia. 2008;46(9):2310-2319. doi:10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2008.03.013

5 Gifford, R., Ng, C. F. & Wilkinson, M. Nonverbal Cues in the Employment Interview: Links Between Applicant Qualities and Interviewer Judgments. Journal of Applied Psychology 70, no. 4, 729–36 (1985). doi:10.1037/0021-9010.70.4.729

6 Edwards, Vanessa Van. Human Lie Detection and Body Language 101: Your Guide to Reading People’s Nonverbal Behaviour. CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, 2013.