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First Impressions: Part 3

Knowing how to make a strong first impression is key in creating business contacts and developing professional relationships. Today, we continue our series on how to make sure you’re creating a strong professional image from the very beginning:

Handshake: The handshake is an excellent opportunity to get started on the right foot with a new contact. Apply firm pressure, but not so much that you are squeezing the other person’s hand. Gently move your hand up and down two to three times while making solid eye contact. Most importantly, make verbal contact as you shake hands using a simple greeting as “Nice to meet you.”

 

Eye Contact: Strong eye contact is key in establishing yourself as a confident professional. In order to make sufficient eye contact without staring or appearing aggressive, make eye contact for approximately 80% of the time. This breaks down to cycles of roughly 4 seconds of solid eye contact broken by a single second of briefly looking away.

 

Fillers: People often add unnecessary words into their speech, for example, the all-too-common “um” or “like”. These filler words break up the flow of your speech and can make you appear unprofessional and inarticulate. Pay special attention to avoiding fillers when meeting someone for the first time. For more information on how to eliminate fillers from your speech, check out our blog post on the topic, check out this video by CSS President, Jayne Latz: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xMWjqw09vyQ

 

Want to learn more about shaping your communication skills to project a professional, confident image? Give us a call and enlist the services of a professional communication coach! At Corporate Speech Solutions, our team of corporate speech-language pathologists can help you reach your professional potential through strong communication. Give us a call at 212-308-7725 or visit us on the web at www.corporatespeechsolutions.com. Don’t live in NYC? No problem! Our services are Skype ready, so CSS can help you improve your communication from anywhere in the world.