From My Inbox: First Impressions

Here's the question I'm musing on this week: where does a first impression start?

With the sweaty palm makes contact in an introductory handshake or in the first few rambling seconds of a jargon-filled and otherwise completely incoherent elevator pitch, or the words of apology preceding the first few rambling seconds of the jargon-filled and otherwise incoherent elevator pitch, or the moment a welcoming smile wilts like the piece of spinach caught between your teeth...oh, if the stuff of life was only so easy.

With so much of our professional networking life taking place online, there's (according to the research literature) an expanded list of snap judgment and first impression concerns you've got to take into consideration...from sh#tty internet connection to a poorly curated backdrop. Read: First impressions count, and they’re harder to achieve through a screen (Insight)

But then again is logging onto Zoom when the first impression starts or does it start even before then? Could it begin with the email exchange setting up the video meeting, or the conversation behind the scenes that suggested you would be an interesting person to talk to so perhaps jumping on Zoom would be a good idea, or the auto-generated communication from the recruiter asking to set-up a pre-interview screening call...Yes, thanks to the power and convenience of the internet we've entered a whole new era of first impression hell.

Taking control of all the possibilities for making a solid first networking impression is a topic I've banged on about for a while. Read: How To Network Like A Pro In A Hyper-Connected (Virtual) World (BYDN blog) and What’s In Your Networking Toolkit? (BYDN blog)

Think about the myriad of ways you're fairly and unfairly signaling who you are - and the ways you're judging others for showing a tiny snippet of who they may be.

If you participated in my LinkedIn poll last week, you may be interested in knowing the results...as those results mirror what the research shows about getting calls: Most Americans don’t answer cellphone calls from unknown numbers (Pew Research)

Watch:

Can you see music in this painting? How Synaesthesia fueled Kandinsky’s art (Aeon)