YOUR PERSONALITY
“ How can you impress people within a short time, in a brief meeting of a few minutes”.
virender kapoor
I have interviewed thousands of students as well as corporate.Let us understand that there are three basic dimensions of one’s personality.This is not only for an interview but also applicable to our social interactions as well.
1) Your appearance, dressing up etc
2) How you communicate- ability to articulate/ speak clearly and have command over language.
3) What you communicate- Content
Let us take these one by one.Some of the suggestions look very simple but most people forget these.
1.Your appearance.
This means ,how you present your self in front of others.You must be dressed up according to the occasion, and this is very important.If you are going for a formal meeting or an interview make sure you wear appropriate clothes.If every one is wearing formals better wear a shirt and tie.Men must always shave, comb their hair and look neat and tidy.This is your first impression and that matters the most.
2.How you communicate.
Whenever you speak ,make sure you structure your thoughts in a logical flow.If you have time to prepare ,write down your points and first discuss the most important ones and handle the lesser important ones later.Dont speak too fast, give pauses in between and let the other person understand your point before you move to the next one.Whatever you are discussing must be clear in your mind and you should be able to say it with confidence and absolute clarity.It is important to look into the eyes of people when you speak.This makes a lasting impact and shows your confidence.
Even if you have to make a formal presentation, avoid using power point.I have seen people making 50 slides for 15 minutes and the audience goes to sleep.Connect with the people on emotional level by modulating your voice, using appropriate body language or your hands to express your self.Speaking effectively need a bit of acting skills.I always tell people to rehearse in front of a mirror and see for yourself how you look.Remember best speakers of the world like John F kennedy, Adolf Hitler and Winston Churchil,Swami Vivekanand never used Power point and till date are most revered.
3.What you speak.
“It’s better to be thought a fool than to open your mouth and remove all doubt.” Mark Twain
This is the most important point.This is where the grasp of the subject is important. In every day life we don’t speak about physics or chemistry.We usually talk of subjects of social interest.That is why it is important to be worldly wise.The best place to get General knowledge is to read news papers, Magazines, story books ( they improve your expression).It is important to watch appropriate TV channels like National Geographic, Discovery, History etc.They have well researched programs with excellent content.To make an impact this is the most important feature and doesn’t come easily.First two points may require a little care and effort to develop, but developing a good knowledge base takes a long long time and has to build up from your school days. In case you want to score a point over others and make a lasting impression I would say this has 80% weightage and the first two only 20%.
But it is also important to note that having great content without the first two points in place will also not work.
So the trick is to work on all the three points all at the same time.The more you speak and meet people, participate in discussions with friends the more confident you will become.Please remember you cannot learn swimming by watching a gold medalist swimming in the pool.To learn swimming you got to get inside the pool and practice again and again.
Same principle applies to making an impression on others.And remember we are talkig about ‘ Lasting impression’
The last point I would like to mention is the quality called “Charisma”.Very few people have it in them.People with Charasmatic personality can mesmerize others.Their presence itself is very compelling.People like Indira Gandhi, Churchil and even Obama have this quality.This is usually an inborn quality but can be developed with reat amount of experience and conscious efforts.
Before I finish I would like to say that it is very helpful to listen to great speakers.Listen to interviews of successful people to see how they say what they say.Recent visit of US PREZ Obama to india proves this point.He impressed his audience where ever he went.So learn from others.
