Making a Professional Impression

Hey Guys,

I want to share with you some key Information about Professional Etiquette. Firstly, The Six S’s to know when trying to make a professional Impression:

• Standing: Standing to greet others/elders show a sign of respect.
• Smiling: This demonstrates a positive outlook and encourages others to do the same.
• Seeing: Looking into a person’s eye shows that you’re friendly, and interested in the other person/ always remember not to stare (this is my rule)!!
• Shaking: Shaking hands is the proper greeting for Americans
• Speaking: Speak your name slowly, it will help others to remember, it also demonstrates pride.
• Saying: Saying back the person’s name, helps hearing people’s name again.

Secondly, INTRODUCTIONS. Just in case you’ve been wondering; Individuals are introduced based on ranks. Sometimes  we walk into a party with a friend that isn’t part of the “crew” we tend to introduce them in a wrong way or even forget about introducing him/her at all to the “crew,” whether in a professional or casual gathering. Now here’s a system.

Always introduce the senior  ranking person to the junior ranking person.

For Instance: Client, I’d like to introduce my co-worker

The most Important rule in making introductions is MAKING THEM!!. Even If you forget all the rules, even if you can’t recall a name. Always remember that an Awkward Introduction is better than non at all. As a student life Ambassador, I give campus tours to prospective students and current student. Whenever I do these tours, I try to introduce myself to the student and at the same time I ask the students for their names. When I want to address them to someone else I try to use the person’s name (instead of, the girl with the green sweater or the guy was the big glasses) in that conversation. During this process, I observed something crucial. I found out that, 70% of the people you address without their names, I mean in this way – the girl with the green sweater or the guy was the big glasses – seem to be a bit unhappy and would’ve really wished you called his/her by their name.

The hardest part of Introduction is remembering names. So here are my few tips:

• When a person gives you his/her name, try to concentrate on the face!!: Literally make eye contact. The trick here is to encourage your eyes to do a Z-shaped movement across a person’s face, encompassing both eyes, their nose and the two corners of their mouth. Look for a distinctive feature, and pay attention to that- it will be a landmark by which you’ll come to recognize the person the next time.
• In some cases, It  helps to just write the name on the individual’s head: Sometimes literally writing the name on a post-it and placing it on the forehead of the person really helps.
• Try to associate the name of the individual to his/her appearance: Recalling what the individual is wearing helps you in a lot of ways, it can either be good or bad a couple times. But just keep the right mind set and you’ll be fine.
• Try linking the name to something you can remember: Another powerful method for linking names to people is to treat them as little sentences. If someone is called Terrence Mickie, maybe imagine them walking a Terrier eating a Big Mac. If someone is called James Hood, imagine them with Jam in their Hood. I know it’s kinda wired but I’ve used it before.
• Try to using the person’s name in conversations. Just as I pointed before, really try not to associate someone to what they have on. Such as: “That lady with the sponge-bob sweater”, “the guy with the Nike hat”, “the dude with the brown hair”, “the boy with flip-flops”, “the one with the old key chain”.
• Finally, Test yourself: Once you have learned a name, the best way to strengthen that memory is to make sure you actively recall it by reviewing and remembering it. So think back to the person you were introduced to ten minutes ago, and actively recall their name.

And Please don’t get me wrong. Don’t be afraid of getting a name wrong; It doesn’t matter if you get a name wrong, people are flattered that you take an interest, so take risks, practice actively recalling.