Your Professional Image Movie: What Are You Projecting?

There is no doubt about it! How you see yourself and believe others see you determines how successful you will become. Sit back and relax, grab some coffee, and answer the following questions:

• What messages do you give to your peers, superiors, friends and family? Are you projecting assertiveness or confusion? Excitement or indifference?
• Do your body signals say you are ineffective or authoritative?
• Are you confident in your social graces and in your personal and professional life? In male/female relationships? In your communication skills?

If you can’t answer “yes” to all of these questions, you can start implementing, new transformation techniques immediately for lasting results!!

Did you know that your outer appearance reveals a great deal about you? It sends out messages about your self-image, outlook on life, moral character, economic and educational levels, trustworthiness, social position and your future success. Even if your background isn’t all you would like for it to have been as far as social and economic status, you still have control on the present and can work towards the future, making whatever adjustments are necessary. It is just a matter of acquiring the right tools and applying them daily until they become a habit.

When you know you appear all pulled together to those around you, you are much more confident and outgoing, instead of withdrawn or uncomfortable. Even if you are competent, if you don’t feel confident, others will sense your uncertainty and wonder whether you are capable. Lack of confidence can become a self-fulfilling prophecy—important assignments may be delegated to those who seem more reliable and confident—and your work may be judged more critically. When you have finished our series on business professionalism, you will be at the head of the class in your company’s eyes.

Following is a list of qualities executives stated they look for in an employee when it comes to projecting a good self-image:

• Appearance: reasonably attractive (that means good grooming, pleasant demeanor and other characteristics besides physical attributes), good application of makeup, well-groomed, not too sexy, appropriate wardrobe for the business you are in.
• Mannerisms: pleasant, assertive, confident, positive attitude, engaging eye contact, self-assured body language, good speech patterns.
• Drive: interest in their job and the company, a desire to get ahead, cooperative, knowledgeable, dedicated, punctual, and assumes responsibility. They must be oriented to the company’s success and have a belief in their products or services.

Some of the negative impressions that can be detrimental to our success are giggling, crying, gum chewing, losing our tempers, rough language, poor grooming, excessive weight or poor health issues, and body signals that are negative or not consistent with what we are saying.

According to more than one study, how attractive we are perceived to be bears heavily on our success in business. These studies found that good looks increase not only our likeability but also our potential for promotions and higher earnings. Good looks do not refer to a beauty queen or leading man’s natural features, but rather doing the best we can with what we have in grooming, overall neatness and personality! Also, that we are bright, articulate, good at what we do and are well dressed. Although clothing is important, there are other parts to the total image—our own self-image, attitude, degree of manners we have, personality, verbal and non-verbal communication skills. Clothing and body language (non-verbal signals) make up approximately 55% of our communication skills, 38% is comprised of the quality of our voice (expression, pitch, tone), while only 7% depends upon the actual words used. How we look and sound often carries more weight than “what” we say. Our classes show you how to communicate effectively in all of these areas!