Your Appearance Speaks before You Do

“Your Appearance Speaks before You Do”

I remember my childhood days, how we were brought up. When I was preparing for my competitive exams in my teenage years, studies, books were all over the place and brain and nothing else was "Supposed"to cross the mind. This is how we were instructed all time by all the elders whom we met and interacted. 
“You need to show colors in your results --that is how people would know you and you would stand out in the crowd”. By any chance, if we dressed ourselves too well in some social gathering, we were looked down upon , by elders who carried sarcastic expressions on their faces, that spoke out ''You better concentrate on your studies right now!”.

This is how we were conditioned and I am sure most of us were brought up that way. With this attitude I  remember appearing for my first interview in college, butterflies in my stomach and highest kind of nervousness that I had ever felt. I was almost through with my books. The next thought was, what should I be wearing for the interview? But again, instantly another thought overpowered it, “Oh, it doesn’t matter, if I know my books well, I’m anyway going to stand out, dressing doesn't matter! I better quickly choose something that is ready, washed an ironed and lets devote the rest of the time to studies again.

But now, being aware of the fact that actually your appearance determines if you would even get a chance to prove yourself, I wonder how all your skills can go for a toss if you don't pay attention to your dressing.

Study shows that when you walk into an interview, it only takes 30 seconds to make a lasting impression. Also, that the first impression you make on an interviewer really sticks. In one research, untrained subjects were shown 20- to 32-second videotaped segments of job applicants greeting their interviewers. When the subjects rated the applicants on attributes like self-assurance and likeability, their assessments were very similar to the interviewers' -- who had spent more than 20 minutes with each applicant. Study shows that the first few seconds can determine if you would be through or out of the selection list!!!

According to a Harvard University study, not only do we have five seconds to make a good first impression, but, if that first impression is bad, it takes eight subsequent positive encounters to change that person’s negative opinion of you.

It doesn't only count in our professional world but it very well penetrates our social world too.

Let’s be honest! When we enter a food eatery, with banners displaying all the options available, don't we pick and choose the one that “LOOKS” the most tempting to us. “Let’s try this!" is what we hear from our heart and we buy it. That is what exactly happens to us in our real lives. We like to talk to people who look good, socialize with people who dress themselves well and in fact we choose our friends on this bias in the first go.

We cannot blame ourselves to be so partial to something that "Looks Good", but it comes with a reason. Human memory is photographic. We remember people, objects, places and everything around in the form of a picture. When I tell you “Shimla”, what comes to your mind immediately? Mountains, greenery, river,  none of us thinks of it as “S H I M L A”, do we? 
Similarly, when two people talk about you (when you are not around), and they refer your name, your picture immediately is sculpted in their minds. Here, You have to determine if you want to be pictured as “THE Person” or “the person”. You are the owner of your appearance and the image that you project.

Famous Psychology Professor, Albert Mehrabian, says that “Whenever you meet any person for the first time, the communication of your message is just 7% Verbal(words that you choose)
38% Vocal(how you say it -- Tone, Pitch) and 55% VISUAL(Clothing, Grooming, Body language, Etiquette).

It clearly shows that visual communication shares the majority of our message being communicated.

Can we still take chances with our appearance?

Keep a tab on visual aspects of communication and you are sure to make a mark in your professional as well as social life. 
Remember “Appearance speaks before you do”.

References : www.suffolk.experience.com 
                   www.bridgetteraes.com