The following article is by Tasha Carlson, Associate with Dale Carnegie Training

 

While communicating with others, countless wordless signals are sent and received.  Whether it is how fast or loud someone is talking, how much eye contact they make, or the way they gesture, every action conveys a strong message.  Tonya Reiman, writer for Communication World reports, 90% of all human communication is composed of non-verbal signals.  For this reason, non-verbal messages are an essential component of communication.  However, we seldom realize the cues body language gives to another person.  Dr. Jeanne Segal, author and trainer of Emotional Intelligence classifies non-verbal communication as, “Facial impressions, eye contact, gestures, posture, and voice inflection, tone, volume and rate.”

At First Glance…

Within the first five seconds of meeting someone, they are already forming opinions, explains Cheryl L. Mee, Editor-in-Chief of Nursing.  They examine how close a person is to their personal space, facial expressions, gestures, sex, age, race, grooming, social status, and facial features.  Judith Newman of Good Housekeeping shares,

• More than 50% of the impression is based on appearance and body language alone. 

• Nearly 40% is based on sound: tone of voice, rate, volume and inflection. 

• Only 10% of a first impression is based on content or what is actually said. 

“Initial judgments about a person’s attractiveness, likability, trustworthiness, competence and aggressiveness happens in one tenth of one second” explains Reiman.  Obviously, first impressions are crucial to the future success of a relationship.  A weak handshake, non-existent smile, or a stiff body could ruin future business possibilities. 

Appearance is Everything

Teige D. McShane shared in the Applied Human Resources Management Journal that the three most important parts of a first impression are smiling, eye contact and posture. 

•Smiling:  A smile says everything about a person.  Smiles tell others a person is approachable and open to what people are saying.  Smiles are contagious!  When a smile is shared, it is impossible not to smile back. 

•Eye Contact:  The visual sense is dominant for most people.  Therefore, eye contact is an especially important aspect of nonverbal communication.  Eye contact establishes sincerity, trust and confidence.  Looking someone in the eye while they are talking conveys interest.  It is possible to know if the other person is happy, bored, or satisfied with your comments by examining their eye contact throughout a conversation.

•Posture:  A person who stands upright, shoulders back, chin up, eyes facing forward, and has firmly planted feet, appears confident and powerful.  Picture a person who is slumped, staring at the floor, and shuffling their feet.  This individual is perceived as nervous, shy, and unsure.  The person who appears confident and trustworthy will be more successful in business transactions.

Conclusion

 

These are just a few of the myriad of body language signals included in the first impression.  Studied individually, these non-verbal cues may seem like common sense.  When strong non-verbals are combined together, there is a greater likelihood that people will trust our message.

 

A graduate of Gustavus Adolphus College in Saint Peter, MN, Tasha Carlson spent 11 years traveling the country in competitive speech which led her to Dale Carnegie Training in the Twin Cities. Dale Carnegie Training partners with individuals and organizations to realize measurable business results by improving performance in communication, people skills, sales, team member engagement, customer service, presentations and process improvement. Dale Carnegie programs have touched more than 8 million lives since 1912. You can email Tasha at Tasha.Carlson@dalecarnegie.com. For more information on Dale Carnegie training, visit www.minnesota.dalecarnegie.com.