How To Make A Great First Impression

29 September 2005

By Jacques de Villiers

I belong to a number of networking organisations, including Business Network International and the Inner Circle Forum. In these sessions, I�ve heard hundreds of people introduce their companies and what it is they do.

You get the usual suspects � the horse whisperers, the uhm and ahhers, the I�d rather die than speak, the War and Peace copywriters and the I know exactly what I�m about.

Forget that some people are shy, speak to softly, are too long-winded, use an uhm as a breathing mechanism; there�s a common thread here.

Some people (by far the minority) just can�t articulate what it is they do (or what their business does). Worst of all, it appears that they don�t know what business they�re in. Click here for an interesting take on not knowing what business you�re in � it involves a fax machine and a motorcycle.

I listened to Dolf Kaestner last night talking on leadership at an Inner Circle meeting. (What a professional, well-spoken and entertaining speaker). He also gave us a run-down on The Elevator Sales Speech. It reminded me how important that first impression is because �you don�t get a second chance to make a first impression.�

I checked in my archives and found a formula for an Elevator Sales Speech (similar to what Dolf presented).

You may want to download it and use it so that you create a great first impression next time you�re on the spot. Click here to download.

 Copyright 2005 by Jacques de Villiers 

This article may be copied or republished with the following credit:

"By Jacques de Villiers, Inspirational Speaker, Johannesburg, South Africa.
+27 (0) 82 906 3693   www.jacquesdevilliers.com "