Meeting People in Person

• 00:05 So you're dressed, you're put together, you've got your clothes, your suit,
• 00:10 your hair just right, it's time to actually meet someone.
• 00:13 So what do you do?
• 00:15 Whether you're walking into a meeting or a networking event.
• 00:18 For starters, hold yourself high.
• 00:22 I don't mean perfectly stiff with a bored or a book mounted on your head balancing,
• 00:29 but hold yourself up high, don't be round shouldered and hunched over.
• 00:32 This is something I have to do from time to time.
• 00:34 People are judging you.
• 00:36 If you seem curled over and
• 00:38 timid, people may have a very negative first impression of you.
• 00:43 So hold yourself high,
• 00:46 have a little bit of a smile on your face not a big gigantic fake phony smile.
• 00:51 But just an open look on your face, and
• 00:55 when you go to meet someone look them in the eye and put your hand out.
• 01:00 Now the hand shake is something that gets people in the trouble.
• 01:02 It's either too limp and it's cold and
• 01:05 it makes someone have a very negative impression of you or
• 01:09 the opposite problem you're squeezing so hard as your bones are crushing.
• 01:14 I've had both situations happen to me.
• 01:17 You don't wanna squeeze,
• 01:19 you're not trying to show someone you're the strongest person in the world.
• 01:24 And you're not handing them a dead fish.
• 01:27 You keep your hand firm and you shake, but you don't squeeze.
• 01:32 That's the best way to have a handshake.
• 01:35 Now unless your a Texas politician.
• 01:37 Don't worry about grabbing the back of the arm and shaking vigorously.
• 01:43 Look at the culture your in and
• 01:45 the religious specifics of people your dealing with.
• 01:49 There are certain cultures where a man will be offended
• 01:53 in a particular region if a woman reaches out to shake his hand.
• 01:58 I'll leave it up to others whether that's a good thing or not.
• 02:01 I just need you to be aware of it.
• 02:03 In general, you don't wanna go out of your way to offend someone's
• 02:07 religious sensibility when it comes to touching their body.
• 02:11 They don't necessarily have a right to ask you to bend to their will but
• 02:17 when it comes to touching them, you may wanna make an exception.
• 02:19 So be aware of those cultural differences in general.
• 02:24 Good posture.
• 02:26 Looking like you're happy to meet someone.
• 02:29 Looking them in the eye, shaking their hand just one or two times,
• 02:34 a firm grasp not too limp, not squeezing too hard.
• 02:38 You do that, and
• 02:39 your body language will be making a great first impression and so will you.

Lesson notes are only available for subscribers.