Visual Success - Your Appearance Matters
Fri Jun 9 2006
Every day we tell the world a great deal about who we are based on our appearance.
Our clothes and body language are seen as clues to our character and personality.
Creating a good impression is all about managing these clues.
It is the perception that others have of us that has the power to make or break careers and business relationships, open or shut doors and invite or repel opportunities.
First Impressions are most powerful and important at all first time encounters. Albert mehrabian noted in his famous study that the impession ou make on others comprises of:
55% What is Seen
38% What is Heard
7% What is Said
Clothes have a direct effect on how we:
Feel And how others feel, think and act toward us
Think
Act
Right or wrongly, clothes form the basis from which the wearer is judged on.
Personality Moral and social values
Level of self-esteem Trustworthiness/honesty
Social and financial status Alliances
Level of fashion sense Degree of similarity
Other Important visual clues about the wearer come from:
Posture Facial expression
Gestures Grooming
From these first impressions we make decisions if we:
Like them Trust them Want to do business/get to know
Clothes are symbols that assume different meanings depending on
Where they are worn How they are worn Who wears them
When they are worn What condition they are in
Everything you wear, say and do should be:
Appropriate to the situation, circumstances, climate, people in attendance
Enhancing to who we are as a person – both the physicl person and our character
Goal effective towhat we want to achieve from the meeting/situation.
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