Learn from this powerful metphor for taking the lead

Think about this. You are in a group meeting where you are not the chairperson. Think about how you would routinely participate in the meeting. Are you more prone to sit back, and have to be prompted in order to participate? Or, do you take the lead and contribute without prompting?Continue reading

Maximising positive impressions – your gaze

In a prior blog I mentioned that people will believe your certainty. They may not know if an idea is good or not – but they will believe how certain you are, that it is a good idea. Particularly with senior executive interactions, your gaze, will be very important in conveying your certainty or your lack of certainty.Continue reading

First impression – long, lost friend technique

Last week, I shared Nalini Ambady’s study of how it took university students only two seconds of viewing a silent video clip of a teacher, to make judgements of the teacher that highly correlated with longer term impressions of the teacher.

Here’s an imagery technique I use with my sales presentation clients to reap the worth of those valuable two seconds of time, when you initially meet someone – so that it will positively enhance a person’s longer term impression of you.

It’s called the long, lost friend technique. Imagine that stretching out in front of you is a long corridor and in the distance you see a person you vaguely recognise.

As they come closer to you, you recognise that it is a long, lost friend – a great friend – that you haven’t seen in years. That moment of recognition will have an immediate, dramatic effect on your facial expressions. There will be a ‘lighting up’ of your entire face. There’ll be a warm, welcoming smile and your eyes will shine.

Imagine meeting and greeting your customers, clients and friends with that long lost friend facial expression . . .

Now, obviously everyone you meet is not your long, lost friend. But if you pretend that they are (and it is a type of ‘selling job’ on yourself to do this) due to your inviting, facial expressions, people will automatically be drawn to you, and want to connect with you. You’ll capture the worth of that pristine, two seconds, and you’ll plant in the person’s mind, a positive longer term impression of you.

The ‘how to’ for this blog is to trial the long, lost friend technique with customers, clients and friends you meet – and if it pays off for you, start practising it, intentionally, on a daily basis. 

 

How J Gillard hope outpointed T Abbott larrikin in first debate

Leaving aside who won the battle of the ideas and focusing on the battle of the words, voice, body language, presence and feeling tone, consistent with those of a prime minister and leader – Julia Gillard won tonight’s debate.

Gillard confirmed her own deep, genuine belief in herself as a leader, and in a positive hope for the future of the country. Debates are about emotional identification with voters. They turn on the revealing of a candidate’s personality, character and temperament. With this template to judge Gillard on – many voters will find her personality, character and temperament appealing.Continue reading

A surprising finding about first impressions, from Harvard

Nalini Ambady of Harvard University asked university students at the start of a semester to view a two second, silent video clip of teaching fellows, and rate the teachers on a 15 item checklist of personality traits. At the end of the semester with the teachers, the students again rated the teachers. There was a high correlation between the pre and post semester checklists.Continue reading

How Julia Gillard is like Margaret Thatcher

 In a clip where Margaret Thatcher was defending the sinking of an Argentinian ship, during the Falklands war. – here’s the link: http://margaretthatcher.magnify.net/video/Margaret-Thatcher-SE-ENOJA – you can see and hear Thatcher’s inner steel and ramrod confidence as she counters a persistent questioner. Julia Gillard in her first weeks as Prime Minister has shown similar shades of steel and confidence through her voice, face and body language.Continue reading