How to Make a Stellar First Impression

How to Make a Stellar First Impression

Your first impression will often make or break your relationships. When someone meets you, within about 10 seconds they’ll decide a whole host of things about you: Whether they like you, whether they trust you, whether they think they can connect with you, whether they’d want you in their life and so on.

People who have many deep friendships generally strike a stellar first impression. Often times they do it unconsciously – it just happens. But you can consciously make it happen as well.
Here’s how to make a great first impression, no matter who you’re meeting.

Dress and Style

How you dress matters. While what you actually wear to make a good impression can really vary, it’s no secret that people base a lot of their impression on what someone is wearing.

In a professional setting, having a great suit or jacket with great shoes can say a lot about a person. You don’t have to spend thousands of dollars to make a great impression; but what you wear should be well fitted, should suit you and should match in style and color with everything else you’re wearing.

In a non-professional setting, wearing well fitted clothes that suit your sense of style will still make a big difference. For example, if you’re going to a rock concert, then dressing in well fitted jeans and a cool T-shirt will make a much better impression than baggy clothes that weren’t chosen well.

Creating a Positive “Vibe”

Have you ever heard the saying that someone just got a “good vibe” from someone? How does that happen?

It’s a number of things. First and foremost, it’s how you’re feeling when you meet someone new. Are you feeling positive, uplifted, happy to meet someone? Or are you feeling down, depressed and dragging other people around you down?

Before you go out, make it a point to get yourself in as positive a state as possible. Avoid going out and meeting new people if you’re overexerted, tired or down.

Remember to smile. If you’re smiling when someone meets you for the first time, you’re going to make a much more positive first impression than if you’re not.

Meet People You Like

This may seem like a no-brainer, but it’s actually a bit counter-intuitive. The people who will like you the most will tend to be the people you like the most.

People like people who like them. In other words, to make the best friends and build the best social life and professional contacts, try to meet people you like and don’t worry about the people you don’t.

A lot of people try to please everyone. They want to be friends with everyone, and feel a little guilty if they have trouble connecting with certain people. Most likely, those people aren’t the people you truly feel drawn to anyway.

Stick to connecting with people you like. You’ll both be better off for it.

That’s how to make a great first impression, no matter where you’re at. Dress well before you leave the house, always be in a positive state, be genuinely happy to meet people, smile and spend time with people you feel naturally drawn to.