According to Guy Kawasaki, the famous blogger, serial entrepreneur and venture capitalist, being likable is essential to any kind of success in business, organizations, management etc. If you think about it, have you ever been enchanted by someone you didn’t like? The answer is probably not. You need to be likable, no matter how great your product or service or idea is. Here are three ways to enhance your likability…
Improve your smile.
The typical fake smile – the flight attendant smile, the one that never reaches the eyes – won’t cut it. Let’s face it, no flight attendant is truly happy to see you. This is the smile where you only use your jaw muscles. You kind of fake a smile. If you want to have a great smile, you need to use the orbicularis oculi muscle, which is in other words, the eyes.
The next thing is how to dress.
You should always dress equal to the audience. There are several theories about how to dress. You could dress underneath your audience, where you know your audience is a business audience, they’re in a coat and tie. But you’re going to walk in there with T-shirt and jeans and running shoes. You’re going to wear a T-shirt, you don’t care. You’re disrespecting the audience.
You can also overdress. This is where you’re trying to communicate that “I have more money than you. I have better taste than you. I can put you to shame.” That also makes you not likable. So, what you really want to do is dress equal to the audience, not high, not low, equal.
The third component of likability is to have a great handshake.
Of all audiences in the world, you should appreciate that this is a mathematical formula for the perfect handshake. The citizens of the United Kingdom funded this study for you from the University of Manchester. And it tells you that you need to be a certain distance, certain firmness. Your hand needs to be smooth and dry. You need to maintain eye contact for a second or two. This is the perfect handshake. The point here is that first impressions are important.
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