One large aspect that contributes to your everyday life is how approachable you appear to others. It can be the difference of getting the job or the gal across the room. Body language is a very big part of being approachable because it's the first thing someone will notice about you and their first impression of you. If you get up to walk over to someone and they see you, their first impression of you is going to be how you get up and walk over and the small things you may do before you do or say anything, verbally. The definition of approachable in the Oxford dictionary is “friendly and easy to talk to”. I however disagree with that definition. I believe to be approachable you must look it, because someone will not know if you are friendly and easy to talk to without having to approach you first. If you do not appear approachable for whatever reason, logically that person will probably not approach you. How to appear approachable. To appear approachable you must keep a few things in mind. In my opinion the five most important things to remember are; -Keeping an open posture. Keeping an open posture is important because it shown that you are comfortable and confident and people tent to find confidence attractive. -Smile! Smiling is important because it shows that you are happy and happy/smiley people are often nice people. -Eye contact. Eye contact says a lot about someone and is a great way to communicate even if you aren't thinking about it. People are more likely to approach you if you can keep a good amount of eye contact before it's creepy. Staring at someone for eternity is very creepy but small amounts of eye contact is good and indicates you want to talk. -Confidence. This one is a little harder for some because there is a fine line, that is not as easily seen by all, between being confident and being cocky. -Be accessible. Don't have your face in your phone all time/be there. Back to body language. Body language is one of the most essential components when it comes to approachability, it is how people get their first impression of you. It shows how you feel and says lots about you without you trying. Or it is that you wish to appear a certain way, say professional, in a way you can use your body language to lie and appear one way to one person or an entire group.
Personally I have almost none of these traits but I do try and remember to not always look mad or sad, I have to say that the hardest thing for me to do is smile. I have found this challenging as I do not like interacting with many people and do not like expressing myself. But for the sake of not being a pompous sullen jerk, I try. I would like to say that I honestly work on making eye contact, smiling, being confident, etc. all the time but i'm just not that kind of person and you may not be either. But if you try hard enough, you can be. Matthew F
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