Tip #340: 6 Tips For Making A Strong First Impression

6 Tips For Making

A Strong First Impression

Regardless of your business, profession or career choice, we all must be salespeople to some degree -- mostly in how we sell ourselves to others through our résumés and first impressions. Unfortunately, one of the biggest mistakes most professionals make when they first meet someone is overselling themselves.

First Impressions Require Finesse For Success.

Barring impromptu first impressions, scheduled first impressions like sales calls, job interviews, first days at a new job and conference appearances possess numerous mental and physical issues that people can learn to cope with and overcome with proper training. To that end, we have prepared six tips below designed to help make your next first impression one of your best first impressions.

6 Tips For Making A Strong First Impression:

Tip #1. Dress To Impress: As cliché as this saying has become, it still holds true in today's society -- your clothes, your hair, your hygiene are all factors that most people will base their initial judgment on. While it is true that the workplace is becoming more casual and less stringent about dress codes, it is always a safer bet to overdress than shoot low. You can always leave the jacket behind, ditch the tie and roll up your sleeves if you find yourself entering a more casual setting.

Tip #2.Listen Attentively: First impressions are not one-sided interviews. They are opportunities for whoever you are meeting to gauge just how quick you are on your feet and how genuine your interest is. Drifting thoughts or distance gazes tell a speaker than your attention is elsewhere, which is not only insulting but also leaves a poor first impression. Be sure to nod along with certain points and respond with short phrases like "I agree" or "Mhm" to show you are participating, even if only passively.

Tip #3. Use A Speaker's Name: Another way to show that you are paying attention as well as help learn and memorize a person's name is to pepper its use into the conversation whenever you can. Each time you include a speaker's name you establish certainty of your participation in the discussion, personalize the moment and help make yourself more memorable in the process.

Tip #4. Be Articulate: For some, speaking articulately comes naturally. For others, it takes careful, consciousness application. And you know what? There's nothing wrong with that. It is better to pause and think carefully for a moment about what you want to say than to just blurt out the first words that pop into your head, especially if they are incoherent and easily misunderstood. Clear, concise communication is valued in the business world, so maintain a moderate pace while speaking, properly modulate your voice and enunciate.

Tip #5. Skip On The Humor: As tempting as it may be to slip in a bit of humor or crack a joke during a first impression, don't. It's one thing to be light-hearted, but humor is a fuzzy area. What one person perceives as an innocent thought or comment another might perceive as ignorant, racist, sexist, homophobic, classist or just plain rude. If any one of those previously mentioned faux pas are actually misconstrued during your first impression, you can pretty much kiss your chances goodbye.

Tip #6. Show Interest in Return: Whether it is a job interview or random conversation on a long train ride, all the skills listed above contribute to what the other party in a first impression scenario wants most from you: To show interest. Almost every job interview ends with the interviewee asking the candidate whether they have any questions. It's those candidates that do have questions, who prove they were listening and thinking critically, that stand out from the crowd

Executive Summary: It doesn't matter if you are a recent hire at a business or the new CEO for some Fortune 500 company -- the first impression you make is going to be what defines you for months to come. So, to make sure your first impressions go smoothly, heed the advice listed above. Dress for success, speak clearly, listen attentively and be wary of humor too soon. Follow these tips and you will be well on your way to success.

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Tip #339: 5 Tips To Maximize A Job Interview

When it comes to job interviews, whoever conducts the interview has just as much riding on their shoulders as the candidate they are interviewing. Businesses rely on a leader's ability to choose candidates that fit seamlessly into their business, that bring the energy and expertise necessary for their business to succeed.

Hiring The Right Candidate Makes All The Difference.

One of the biggest mistakes business leaders can make is hastily hiring employees. The difference between hiring just another employee and the right employee is what separates the employee who works for your business and the employee who makes your business work. Finding the latter starts with the interview process. With that said, here are five tips to help you get the most out of your interview and the best person for the job.

5 Tips For Getting The Most Out Of Your Next Candidate Interview:

Tip #1. Research The Candidate: Just as you expect your candidate to come to the interview prepared, having researched your business and the job position and spent time preparing for the interview, you too should do your due diligence. Use the candidate's résumé as a springboard to learn more about their past employment history and their job performance. Use this information to tailor your interview questions in order to best gauge how well the candidate would fit at your business.

Tip #2. Avoid Snap Judgments: An increasing problem in the business world today is employers who judge candidates based on their private lives -- content gleaned from their Facebook page, for example. The trouble with this is that someone's personal life and cultural or philosophical views bear no immediate impact on how well they would perform for you as an employee. Candidates deserve to be interviewed with a clean slate, not having to fight an uphill battle against whatever opinions you formed of them prior to meeting them.

Tip #3. Ask For Anecdotes: Never take résumé bullet points at face value. Phrases like "team player" and "born leader" are clichés nowadays -- what you really want is anecdotal evidence how someone is a team player or a natural leader. To borrow a creative writing concept, you want candidates to show, not tell. By relating a time they took charge of a situation or directly influenced a business' success, candidates show you how they behave, as opposed to just telling you.

Tip #4. Vary Your Questions: In order to gain the broadest picture of a candidate, ask a variety of questions during the interview. Do not limit yourself solely to questions related to the position they are applying for. All jobs require a certain amount of adaptability, flexibility and improvisation. Use the interview as an opportunity to test whether your candidate is malleable and able to bend with unexpected demands or rigid and likely to break under pressure.

Tip #5. Continue Evaluation: Just because the interview is over does not mean you are done your evaluation of the candidate. After the interview, take some time away from the evaluation process. We recommend putting a good night's sleep between the interview itself and the next step in the evaluation process. This way, you keep a clear head whenever deliberating over whether a candidate is a viable asset to your business or not.

Executive Summary: Thanks to modern technology, conducting job interviews nowadays is simultaneously easier and harder than ever. The Internet has vastly extended the talent pool available to your business. At the same time, it has made peeking into the wholly irrelevant personal lives of would-be hires all too easy, too tempting. Try to stay focused on what matters mostwhen interviewing a candidate. The more time and effort you put into the interviewing process, employing techniques and advice like the ones above, the more likely you are to hire a perfect match for your business.

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Tip #338: 5 Tips For Better Client Communications

There are all different types of clients in the business world. Some know exactly what they want and how they want it while others do not. As a result, clients like the latter ones tend to struggle when making buying decisions or committing to the direction of a new or existing project.

Communication Is Key To Your Success.

On one hand, your job is to service the needs and wants of your client. On the other hand, you want to maximize the time you spend on the project by being efficient in the management of a client's project. This is why communication between your business and the client is so crucial. With that in mind, we came up with five tips to help you keep the lines of communication clear when working with a client.

5 Tips For Communicating With Clients On A Project:

Tip #1. Get The Most Important Information Up Front: Because you won't always be able to reach your client or get a quick response, you need to gather up as much information as you can initially. The more information you collect at the start of a project the further you can progress before having to consult your client.

Tip #2. Agree To A Communication Plan: Every business operates on their own unique schedule, making consistent communication difficult to maintain. If client involvement is important to a project, it helps to establish a communication plan with the client to ensure you maintain regular contact. This allows you to keep the client abreast on your progress, and helps make sure the client is available to provide feedback or authorize approvals.

Click here to read TechRepublic's extensive article on project communication.

Tip #3. Provide A List Of Decisions: If you know in advance that a project will require a level of customization that calls for approvals, develop a document that outlines the various stages of the project and the corresponding decisions that the client will need to make in order to move the project along from one stage to the next. If you can, include deadlines for the decisions so that your client can better manage their schedule.

Tip #4. Keep Initial Options Light: When a client feels flooded with too many options, they often put off making a decision -- especially if they have their own matters to tend to at their business. This can cause the project to slip their mind, leading to hold ups. Options are good, and lots of options are great, but at the beginning of a client project keep things light to avoid throwing too much at the client at once.

Tip #5. Make Them Feel Like Part Of The Team: Sometimes, when a client does not feel directly involved in a project, it can lead to a breakdown in communication, slowing or even halting a project's development. To avoid this, make your client part of your "inner circle" so they feel like a team member. Do this, and you will vastly improve the likelihood of getting a response from them when you need input.

Executive Summary: As with so much in life, effective communication is integral to the success of a client project. This requires more than just calling a client up or sending them an e-mail. Having a plan for maintaining communication throughout a project's life will make things much easier. Plus, it also helps manage your client's expectations and will make future projects get approved with little to no resistance.

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E-Tip#337: 4 Reasons to Emphasize Face-To-Face Communication

In 2005, Alison Stein Wellner wrote an article for Inc. Magazine about how face-to-face communication is becoming a "dying art" in the wake of e-mail, text messaging and other telecommunications technology. As part of her research for the article, Alison spoke to several academics and experts who have studied how businesses communicate and the pros and cons of both face-to-face communication and online communication.

We Just Had To Share This Information With You.

What these experts had to say was so fascinating and in the spirit of Dale Carnegie Training's own philosophies on communication, we just knew we had to share it. So we condensed the article into the four reasons for emphasizing face-to-face communication below, adding a dash of our own thoughts into the mix as well.

4 Reasons To Emphasize Face-To-Face Communication:

Reason #1. Keep Communication Skills Sharp:E-mail and online conversations can only take you so far. At some point, regardless of what type of business you run, you will need to pick up the phone or meet with someone face-to-face. But the more time you spend enmeshed in e-mail instead of communicating in person, the more those interpersonal communication skills dull. Naturally, weak face-to-face conversation skills pose a potential threat to the success of your business.

Reason #2. A More Effective Form Of Communication: According to UCLA psychology professor Albert Mehrabian, reports Wellner, "55% of meaning in an interaction comes from facial and body language and 38% comes from vocal inflection. Only 7% of an interaction's meaning is derived from the words themselves." In other words, a tremendous amount of the subtle, nuanced aspects of communication we all rely upon are lost in e-mail. E-mail is purely words -- the 7 percent. As such, e-mail content runs a greater risk at being misunderstood than verbal communication does.

Reason #3. Causes Less Conflict In The Workplace: "People hide behind e-mail," Sara Roberts, president of Roberts Golden Consulting in San Francisco, told Wellner. This issue is common enough that most businesses can relate to it. Because there is a sense of detachment inherent to e-mail communication, a non-presence, people tend to be more uninhibited when e-mailing. With less skin in the game, so to speak, e-mailers are more inclined to sling insults and use so-called swear words, stirring trouble in the process.

Reason #4. Strengthens Work Relationships: Face-to-face communication is more conducive to team building and collaboration. That's not to say it is impossible to achieve team unity over the web, but nothing trumps in-person activity when it comes to holding in-depth conversations and discussing matters that are sensitive in nature. And as previously stated, body language, facial expressions, tone and inflection all contribute to dynamic, engaging discussions that simply can't be replicated over e-mail.

Click here to read Alison's original piece for Inc. Magazine.

The Virtual Business Dilemma.

More and more businesses are sprouting up that operate almost entirely virtually -- that is, all business is conducted over the web in some form. For these businesses, face-to-face communication is rarely, sometimes not ever an option. For such businesses, Jim Ball, co-founder of Alpine Access, offers the following advice:

§ Concentrate On Clarity: Make sure several people proof important e-mails, checking not only the grammar, but also the nuance of the language to ensure it isn't easily misconstrued.

§ Rely On Employees To Verify: Most e-mail clients have an option to sign an e-mail receipt acknowledging that they received and read the e-mail in question. This is especially useful for important internal communications.

§ Choose Communication Methods Wisely: Basically, know when an e-mail is and isn't appropriate. Phone conversations are still a viable option for virtual businesses when it comes to more involved communication.

Executive Summary: E-mail communication and its kind are vital tools for modern businesses -- no one is claiming otherwise. To truly get the most out of these tools, however, businesses need to strike a balance between online communication and face-to-face. The speed and convenience e-mail affords the transmission of direct, straightforward information is undeniably important. But equally as integral to a business' success is the intuitive complexity of face-to-face conversation.

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Tip # 336 5 Tips For Improving Your Business Research

Research and fact-finding are important elements to success in the business world. Truly effective marketing and persuasive rhetoric hinges upon the quality of research businesses put forth as well as rely on. Unfortunately, while the Internet has made research and fact-finding much more accessible and streamlined than it was in the past, the tremendous volume of information available on the Internet also makes it difficult to sort out the reliable research from the unreliable.

Responsible Business Research Will Make You Look More Credible.

Information on the Internet can be misleading. Most commonly, you will find hasty generalizations (prematurely jumping to a conclusion), faulty authority (accepting someone's credentials without careful evaluation of who they are) and false dilemmas (either/or scenarios that suggest only two options are possible). To ensure that you avoid making these mistakes, or avoid using sources of misinformation, check out the five tips below.

5 Tips For Improving Your Business Research:

Tip #1. Examine Generalizations: Hasty generalizations are the source of prejudices and superstitions -- like how walking under a ladder will give you bad luck. They are also easily the most common type of fallacy you will come across, especially online. This can be particularly embarrassing for anyone presenting his or her research data.

Tip #2. Carefully Consider Who Is A Real Authority: We see instances of faulty authority all the time. Certain television commercials are a prime example. How many times have you seen a celebrity -- a sports star, music star or an actor -- sell a product or service completely unrelated to their profession? Yet almost none of them have any relevant credentials to what it is they are endorsing. The same applies to the business world. Whenever you are dealing with authority, evaluate the person's credentials as they relate to whatever it is they are claiming.

Tip #3. Look Out For Extremes: People are quick to buy into false dilemmas because they typically possess an emotional appeal. Unfortunately, they tend to limit the world to two extremes. Take the now cliché phrase, "you are either with us or against us." At first, this may make sense on some base level, but upon further consideration, you should realize that it completely ignores the possibility for any middle ground between the two. Working only in extremes in the business world can be profoundly limiting and damaging.

Tip #4. Look For Hard Figures: Verifiable, proven data speaks for itself. Unfortunately, most people do not look beyond the presence of statistics. What you need to do is ask yourself how a business came up with their numbers, or to check the numbers against their primary source - that is, the original, documented research. When it comes to numbers, the process -- how the information was arrived at -- is just as important as the information itself. This is why many businesses use credible research firms.

Tip #5. Rely On Database Sources: Unlike a cursory Google search, which will bring up any result that contains your search query, databases offered by the likes of Dun & Bradstreet, Standard & Poor's or Gartner Group will provide the previously mentioned first party information for review, backed by background information and research techniques/methodology.

Executive Summary: Being misinformed can damage your image and authority. Although anyone can claim himself or herself as an industry expert, you should look at their background, their positions on past issues and their website to help determine their real expertise. You also need to be aware of the common mistakes most people make when presenting researching -- doing so will help you avoid making them yourself.

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Tip #335 Telecommuting Pros And Cons

Telecommuting can be a very appealing option to your employees. Who wouldn't like the ease and convenience of working from home? However, what many articles often overlook about telecommuting is what it means for you and your business.

Like most things, telecommuting has its pros and its cons. The success of a telecommuting option depends on what type of business you run and how well you execute the program. In order to help you gauge the viability of telecommuting for your business, we have listed below three pros and three cons of telecommuting.

3 Pros Of Telecommuting:

Pro #1. Appealing Recruitment Tool: One powerful benefit to offering telecommuting is its use as a recruitment tool. The option to work from home is an appealing benefit to new employees. It is also an effective employee retention tool for the same reasons. Employees, especially those with families, will be glad to have the stress of juggling home and work life off their shoulders.

Pro #2. Increased Productivity: Working from home can potentially increase employee productivity. For starters, employees do not need to slog through a long commute. This means the time they would normally spend traveling they can now spend getting an earlier jump on the workday, or a bit more rest for a more energized workday. Another benefit is that you can arrange so that employees working from home be reachable during non-traditional working hours.

Pro #3. Save On Overhead Costs: Fewer employees in the office means fewer pieces of office furniture needed -- a cubicle, a desk, lights, even little things such as pens and paper and other supplies. If your company covers an employee's travel expenses, telecommuting will cut down on those costs as well. And if your business can be ran more virtually, you might even be able to switch to a smaller office space to save even more money.

3 Cons Of Telecommuting:

Con #1. Lost Opportunities For Team Building:

This is the most obvious downside to telecommuting. When an employee works outside of the office, they miss the opportunity to build a rapport with other team members and establish stronger ties with their follow employees. Because team unity is important to any business, you may want to schedule face-time regularly into your telecommuting program to ensure team relationships are established and maintained.

Con #2. Employer-Employee Disconnect: For the same reasons that telecommuting lends itself to productivity, it also lends itself to employer-employee disconnect. Some employees who telecommute have expressed a sense of feeling "out of sight, out of mind" in the eyes of their employers, and concern over how this might negatively affects their potential for promotion. The possibility of such a disconnect makes it crucial that employers interested in telecommuting stay in touch with their employees.

Con #3. Absence Of Motivation: Some employees are not as self-motivated as others are, and without direct management, may slack on their workload. This is why employers need to be careful when choosing which employees they permit to telecommute. Working from home requires a significant amount of self-discipline and self-motivation, not to mention the ability to work autonomously.

Executive Summary: For every benefit telecommuting potentially provides a business, there is a corresponding downside. The only way to make telecommuting work for you is to tailor it to your business' needs. You also need to make sure the employees you permit to telecommute are capable of handling the responsibility it comes with. Telecommuting is not for everybody, but for some, the flexibility and freedom it affords can be the kind of motivating work privilege that allows them to excel.

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