7 Ways Your Body Language Can Improve Your Brand

Tomesia 2 Comments Brand Attributes Brand Management Personal Branding

First impressions are critical to success, and your body language counts for a huge percentage of that first impression. In fact, first impressions are typically made within the first seven seconds of interacting with someone, and of that, body language counts for roughly 50%. Since we are hardwired as a survival mechanism, it’s not possible for you to stop people from instantly judging you. But, you should work towards understanding how the decisions others make of you can be used to work on your behalf. Obviously, this is important in the business community and when networking with new people!

Being mindful and aware of your posture and body position is the first step towards monitoring what your body language is saying in order to determine if it needs to be tweaked. Try to get into the habit of noticing whether you are slumping or sitting up straight, making or avoiding eye contact, if you are fidgeting, and so on.

After taking some time to pay attention to your body language, here are a nonverbal ways make sure you are making a positive first impression:

1. Don’t cross your arms and legs. Dependent upon the situation, crossing your arms and/or legs can signify everything from impatience to disinterest or resistance to defensiveness. You want to keep an open and inviting stance as much as possible.
2. Make eye contact. Looking someone in the eye transmits energy and signifies interest. Keep in mind, eye contact does have to be monitored. Too little eye contact or none at all generally makes you come off as uncomfortable, and insecure. Too much eye contact, on the other hand, can make you appear to be overeager or even creepy. Try to notice how often very social people make eye contact. Make a practice of noticing the eye color of the people you meet.
3. Nod while listening. Nodding while you are listening to someone speak acknowledges that you are paying attention. Don’t be too emotional when nodding, though, as this can signify that you actually are not paying attention but instead trying to look like you are.
4. Watch your space. Don’t sit sprawled out, taking up a lot of space; especially in situations where space is limited), this can make other people uncomfortable and make you look arrogant. On the other hand, if you shrink down and take up as little space as possible, it makes you look insecure.
5. Straighten your posture. Power and Status and nonverbally communicated by your height. Stand tall, pull your shoulders back, and hold your head straight as a sign of competence and confidence.
6. Try not to touch your face. Aside from getting make-up and oils from your face onto your hands, touching your face can make you look as though you are not paying attention. It can also be very distracting for other conversation participants. Common variations of this are playing with your hair, pulling on or rubbing your ear, and fidgeting with jewelry close to your face.
7. Mirror the other person. Mirroring one another is the one thing that scientists have noticed in conversations or interactions where the participants are engaged and things are going well. This knowledge can be used to help with your body language engagement during interactions. Don’t do it in excess or you will look silly! If the other person tends to lean forward to talk to you, you should lean forward in response to them. If they smile, smile back at them. And so on.

Every encounter you engage in, be they conferences, meetings, training sessions or business lunches, presents you with an opportunity to meet new people, network, and expand your professional contacts by making a positive first impression. You only have about seven seconds; if you position yourself well, those seven seconds should be all you need!