What people look for when they meet us

According to Harvard Business School Prof Amy Cuddy it is

1. Can I trust this person? And
2. Do I respect them?

We tend to judge the former on how warmly we feel towards the person.  This tends to come from a subliminal scan our primal self does to see if their audio matches their video, or in other words, does what they say match their body language.  And it tends to be the tiny, uncontrollable signs that we take in rather than the cruder, “Are their legs crossed?” type of thing.  If they don’t fully believe what they are saying, then they will signal their tension and discomfort and we will judge them less trustworthy.  She goes on to say that what they want to see is the authentic you.  She tweeted “Presence isn’t about pretending to be competent; it’s about shedding whatever is blocking you from being who you are.”pic.twitter.com/ERmb52WyXh.

So whilst it is important to show a new colleague or prospective employer that you are good at what you do, you need to convince that you are good as your word.

This entry was posted on Monday, February 8th, 2016 at 08:00 and is filed under General. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.