iLEAP Academia

First impression matters

As humans, snap judgments are part of the way we operate. It is inevitable and we all make first impressions- of people, of a product or of a house you want to buy. Once  you  walk  into a room as the  presenter  for the session , the  audience in the  first  few seconds have  judged  assessed and evaluated you. Most of the impression is there to stay!

So what should you do to create a great first impression? A holistic look at the  various aspects that the  audience  is  noticing  about  you  will  help  you understand what you need  to  do .

The first in the list is strong and confident posture. Nonverbal signals are noticed far more quickly than verbal signals. Keep your body erect when you walk into the room.
Don’t  cross  either arms  or legs  when standing in  front  of the  audience as this  conveys  a closed  approach. Leaning on the podium, or slouching, shows laziness and disrespect. No doubt you may feel nervous but put forth an air of confidence! Facial expressions show your emotions, so be careful. Keep a happy friendly smiling expression and smile genuinely! It  might be  good to  do a  few  facial exercises( smile as wide as you can, open  and  close  your  mouth  wide )  to release the tension just before  you  enter the room. It takes off the nervous and tense look away.

Appropriate clothing is essential and also signifies authority and professionalism. Analyze your audience and dress accordingly.
And  surely watch  your  gestures – no rocking,  no hands in pockets,  and no  nervous  tics like  rubbing  your  nose  or pushing back  your  hair.
Engage with the audience through eye contact; maintain a comfortable distance from the audience. Decide where you want to place yourself. Avoid standing behind the podium as this creates a barrier between you and the audience.
With all of this  in place, you  will  connect  with  your audience  on a human  level  and  they  will have  a positive  impression that  will make them want  to listen  to you.

Style and Tone

Each of us has over time evolved a certain style of communication. However, when presenting before an audience, there must be a certain amount of formality in speech. As  discussed earlier, the best  style  of  presentation  to adopt  is using visual cue cards, (have  your support  notes alongside) and  speak  freely without referring or reading  prepared text. This will help to keep the tone conversational. In this manner, as long as you maintain the logical flow, you will feel free to add or deduct, make subtle changes than if you were reading a fully prepared text. Keep the  syntax  simple, and make relevant  pauses  for the  audience  to  digest the  gist  of what  you’re saying.
Register, tone, and language are crucial elements of style. Register refers to the concept of using a particular type of language for particular purposes. A formal register would mean using correct grammar, no jargon or slang. To  achieve  an informal  register, you  could use  colloquial  language, and  perhaps  be informal  with  grammatical usage .
All of us have certain verbal tics- ok, fair enough, alright …. The list goes on. Repeated use of these can be annoying to the audience and would distract them from the main content.
When it comes to  voice  quality adding emphasis and  tonal  variation  will bring  variety into your  speech. Tone in  speech  refers to the feeling  you are conveying  to the  audience. Are you sounding  condescending,  do  you  sound  knowledgeable? Are you conversational and engaging? Avoid monotony in your tone, sound enthusiastic and energetic.

Summary:

• Remember the first few seconds make the most impact.
• Keep your verbal cue cards with you when presenting.

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