Are you making the right impression?

At a networking event I attended last week one of the participants, a solicitor, stood up and asked whether he should continue wearing a suit and tie or start dressing more casually. Overwhelmingly, everyone in the room said you should carry on wearing the suit and tie.

When it comes to dressing it is vital to consider the impact of what we wear on society. If we are a professional and dress smartly it conveys the message that we are efficient in what we do and can be trusted to do the job.

If we dress sloppily with bad grooming, it sends a message that we don’t care about, not only our appearance, but also the job that we do. This may not be the case but when we meet people for the first time we immediately make judgements based on appearances alone. In fact, it takes less than 3 seconds for an impression to be made which can then be difficult to shift.

How we dress also gives verbal clues to our credibility, background, interests and ultimately your entire personality. One statistic states that 90% of what people remember about an encounter with a stranger is related to non verbal communication especially their appearance.

Some simple tips to increase how you are perceived is to polish and wear appropriate shoes, apply makeup and lipstick, wash and style your hair, dress according to what the day holds…be it business meeting, day with the family or out with friends and buy the best quality clothing that you can afford.

Knowing that you have made an effort with your appearance and are looking your best will not only give you an immeasurable boost in confidence but also greatly improve how you are perceived.