Wearing perfect clothes will go a long way, but if your have not showered or bathed for few days, your personal image may be compromised.
Hygiene
Your hands and nails must always be clean and neat. Do not bite your nails. On occasion, you may get a professional manicure.
For woman clear nail polish would be the most appropriate. For a colour, you should stick to neutral colours, red or rose colours of pink. You should manicure your nails weekly.
Hair should be clean, trimmed and combed. Use good shampoo to avoid dandruff. Woman should keep their hair out of eyes with simple ornaments.
Man should keep their hair in order and trimmed. In some companies long hair are not acceptable and in some, pulling them back is an option. Beards should be kept clean and trimmed. Eyebrows, nostrils, neck and upper chest should be free of excess hair. You should shave every day before leaving to the office.
For both man and woman, the face should be clean and free of acne. Brush your teeth after every meal. Yes! Get your toothbrush and paste into the office.
Tattoos should not be visible during the business day and any piercing removed.
Body language
Your body language is as much important as your clothes and hygiene. How you carry yourself when engaging with others is something worth exploring. Body language communicates a lot.
One of the most important things to consider is maintaining an eye contact. I understand how difficult could that be for some of us. Especially, if you are a shy person. I still struggle with it sometimes. Particularly in front of very confrontational and argumentative person!
With almost every move you make, you communicate something. We should practice and be aware of our body language. As much as we should be aware of what we say.
Good news is, that there are some tips and helpful rules, which can help you to make the best impression, make others feel comfortable around you and score some points at times.
Let's start from the way we stand.
When we stand, we want to do it with our back straight, shoulders back and the head up. This posture will indicate confidence with yourself which can be very contagious. People want to be around confident people.
Sticking your belly out, slouching, putting your hands in your pockets or even folding your arms may look defensive. When you cross your arms or legs it indicates unease and nervousness.
Not only when we stand, but we should also be confident sitting. Again, sit with straight back, legs together and head up. Generally woman would not cross their legs, but man are allowed.
The way you position your legs may give some signals to those around you. When you jiggle your knee it indicates impatience and anxiety. When you learn forward to much, you may come across aggressive so be careful with that.
We should also try to control our hands. Never point with an index finger at anything or someone. It is considered rude. Try and monitor your hand movement. Avoid making aggressive gestures with it.
Your face and head movements, also indicate a lot of information. Nod in an agreement. Nodding is supportive and friendly. Try to avoid shaking your head too much!
If you are reading my blogs, you know already the smile is very, but, very important. It indicates generosity. Forced smile, on the other side, are very easy to spot. They indicate arrogance and foolishness. Practice your smile, be kind, compassionate and friendly.
Try to avoid biting your lips, wrinkling your nose, sticking tongue out of your mouth and widely opening your eyes. Think about your facial impressions, try to monitor them daily, Check up on yourself, practice until it become a habit. Trust me, its worth it! And yes, you can learn to control your emotions.
Again, and again, maintain eye contact when conversing with others. When talking, do not look at your phone or your hands, look at the person's eyes. Left eye for friendliness, right eye for authority. It works, trust me. Hmm, if you are very, very shy to look at someones eyes, you may look at their forehead just above the eyes. In a group, make eye contact with everyone and do not focus only on one person.
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