Make a Great First Impression – comes from the Free Guide – ‘Are you frustrated by training that creates short term interest but not long term change?’.
According to scientific research, we form our first impression within milliseconds, and it tends to stick. Whether you are inviting people to an induction, emailing about the first part of formal training, or putting together some lunchtime training, your first emails, conversations, and other forms of communication are critical to your success.
Have you ever made up your mind about someone or something after having received only one email? Perhaps it was a spelling mistake, or the subject heading was poorly worded. However, it only takes something small to give a bad first impression.
This is not the time to quickly send an email so that you can tick it off your to-do list. That is because by doing this, you can easily form a bad first impression. Taking into account the mindset of the Learner (see solution 6), our first impression needs to be our very best.
In his landmark bestseller, ‘The Tipping Point’, Malcolm Gladwell redefined how we understand the world around us. In ‘Blink’, he revolutionises the way that we understand the world within. ‘Blink’ is a book about how we think without thinking. It is also about the choices we appear to make in an instant, but actually aren’t as simple as they seem.
Action
We are dealing with a Learner who has a negative mindset towards learning and development. Therefore, our first communication needs to ask for an open mind and positivity, without being too ‘gushy’, whilst placing emphasis on the value that Learners will get from engaging in the event. The 3 words to keep in mind are Open, Positive and Value. For more advanced communication, engage all 4 quadrants of the brain- HBDI.
