Acai Guide

We pretty much immediately have a ‘gut’ reaction when we meet someone for the first time, that tells us whether we like this person – whether, so to speak we see them as a friend or a foe. How does that instinct come up so quickly with such a damning or embracing reaction and where does it come from? Moreover, if we want to create a good first impression when going for a new job, how can we do ourselves a favour and zoom ‘friend’ into our interviewer’s consciousness?

Without getting into too much technical jargon – it’s commonly known that the brain has two hemispheres; the left deals with logic, and the right with creativity. This is what we know as the new brain or cortex. But there’s also an additional dimension, the pre-historic brain or hypo-thalamus (the brain stem, in fact) which is solely responsible for instincts. This was essential for making split-second life saving decisions in ancient times.

Research from Switzerland more recently refers to the pre-historic brain as the ‘Gatekeeper’. Not being capable of rational thinking, the Gatekeeper’s sole function is to instantly judge whether someone is a friend or a foe, and it decides purely on instinct. If an approach causes the Gatekeeper stress, it switches on the fight or flight response. This immediately shuts down all other message receptors, and makes any further attempts at communication impossible. Today’s terminology would be you never get a second chance to make a first impression!

It’s essential to understand how this relates to modern life for effective communication. At interview, a person must learn to build a ‘Language of Trust’. The Gatekeeper doesn’t have the capacity to think, so that language isn’t just verbal. In the first few seconds of meeting an interviewer, your instinctive signals must comunicate the message of a ‘friend’.

This will come through in your body language, with movements, gestures, facial expressions and eye contact being open and relaxed. Your voice modulation and tone must be calm, and the speed of your speech controlled and gentle. Finally, don’t invade his or her personal space. The Gatekeeper’s decision will also be based on your appearance, clothes, smell, enthusiasm and posture.

Your total focus initially is to get past the Gatekeeper. Then you can build and develop rapport, and open your interviewer’s message receptors. Once you’re through this initial first impression, you can move on with developing a relationship with your interviewer, for the gate will now be open to what you have to offer.

Finally, let’s look at research done at The Thomas Gordon Institute on communication. They looked at the impact of words, voice, face and body, and their contribution to believability. Measuring the effectiveness of each component of communication, they came up with the following:

Words = 7%, Voice = 23%, Facial Expression = 35%, Body Langauage = 35%.

So in other words, how we deliver our words, our appearance and the gestures we make are more relevant than what we actually say. Don’t forget, the Gatekeeper can not use rational thought, just an instinctive reaction developed from pre-historic times. That gut-feeling really is an ancient brain feeling. When you understand this, you can take control and make sure you get off to the very best start.

(C) 2009. Go to LearningLolly.com for superb info on Revit Architecture 2010 and Revit Architecture 2010 Training.