Are you in need of image optimization?

I went to an interesting PM Forum event in Birmingham last night. Dubbed ‘you are your best business card’, it was all about managing first impressions.

The speaker was Laurel Herman, founder of Positive Presence and one of the UK’s best known personal image gurus.

Laurel talked about the importance of what people see (wardrobe, grooming, body language, etc) and hear (voice, words, accent, etc) when they meet you for the first time. She also talked about behaviour, etiquette and so on.

Her business is built on helping professionals improve their personal impact and presence. She calls this process ‘image optimization’ (there’s a new buzzword) and she’s got a fantastic client base.

I have a ‘take me as I am’ approach to life (can you tell from my photo?!) and so I’m usually pretty sceptical about this sort of thing. But I found Laurel’s session interesting, useful and entertaining.

There is no denying that first impressions count and that people make judgements based on how you look, sound and behave. Those initial judgements stick.

From a communication perspective, first impressions can help create the right image in people’s minds, or they can become a form of noise, stopping the right signals from getting through. I’ve come across one or two chief execs in the past whose image has undermined them.

I guess there’s nothing wrong with individuals managing their image, provided that image doesn’t become a façade. Authenticity, as I said yesterday, is vital.

Internal communicators aren’t image consultants, but this is definitely an area we should understand. If the way a client looks, talks or acts impedes their communication with employees, then it’s something we should care about.