First Impression Tips...

When you’re interviewing for a job, one of the keys to success is your first impression. If you’re about to go in for an interview, maybe its time to re-evaluate the first impression you give off. Do you come off as likable? Do you exude professionalism and charm?

The goal of every first impression is to stick to a person’s brain. You want them to instantly like you and to keep thinking about you hours or even days after your first met them. Here are few things we can all do to give a killer first impression.

Dress to impress. You don’t want to walk into an interview looking like a slob. If you look sloppy, people will assume you do sloppy work. Look neat and presentable. Also, dress so you’re fit in with the people who are interviewing you. For attorneys that means conservative suits, white shirts, and ties. If your job is more creative, say like a graphic designer, dress so it looks like you are creative.

Look fit. People are attracted to people in good physical shape. If you are out of shape, start heading to the gym everyday for 30 minutes of cardio and strength training. Also, quit eating junk and start eating healthy.

Give an impressive hand shake. The first handshake is a key part in giving a good first impression.

Focus on speaking. Speak clearly and at a moderate pace. Work on varying your voice intonation. You don’t want to come off as a monotone bore. Also, speak the language of the person interviewing you. Avoid slang and jargon not associated with the job you are interviewing for. Use proper grammar and vocabulary that reflects a higher education. If people can’t understand you, its hard for them to like you.

Use the person’s name. Using the interviewers name makes the conversation more personable. It also shows that you were paying attention during introductions and that the other person was important enough for you to memorize their name. However, avoid overusing a person’s name. Too much name use is off putting because it sounds fake and a little bit creepy.

Let the person know you’re listening. If it looks like you are not listening, people will be turned off. Give subtle hints that you are listening such as looking the person in the eye, nodding, and saying an occasional I see. Also, ask questions about what someone had just said. It shows you have been paying attention and that you want to know more about what they are saying. Finally, don’t interrupt.

Shine the spotlight on the other person. The secret to charm is directing attention away from you and on to the other person. Avoid blabbing about yourself and start asking questions about the other person. Great questions to ask in an interview include:

* How did you end up at (name of company)?
* What drew you to (name of company)?
* What do you like most about working at (name of company)?

You will not only get key insights about your potential employer, but the questions also require the interviewer to talk about themselves and people love talking about themselves.

How To Care For Your Speaking Voice..

Your voice is a powerful but delicate instrument. With the right care, you can both protect your voice and use it to your best advantage. Start by caring for your voice with this five-step approach. One: Breathe deeply. You can speak only as well as you breathe. The voice, after all, is a wind instrument. You need to supply it with ample air in order to power your talk. Before getting up to speak, find a place where you can pause quietly for awhile. Do a few breathing exercises. Take deep (diaphragmatic) breaths to supply your voice with air. Beginning speakers often hurt their voices because they aren't breathing deeply enough. When you breathe in, your stomach should push out. When you breathe out, your stomach should push in. Place your hand on your stomach when you're practicing your presentation. See if you're bringing air all the way down into your diaphragm. Breathe deeply even as you make your way to the front of the room. Pause for a few seconds and breathe as you look around the room. Taking even one additional deep breath will help your air supply and give your voice more support. Two: Learn to relax. Tension in your upper body diminishes the power of your voice and can cause hoarseness. Over time, it can adversely affect your throat and can lead to vocal chord damage that is sometimes serious enough to require surgical repair. Through vocal warm-up exercises, you reduce tension in your shoulders, neck, and throat. As you exercise, allow your body to breathe naturally. Relax your body and let whatever tautness is there flow out each time you exhale. Three: Condition your voice. Try some tender loving care on your voice. Try gargling, which helps assure that your voice is in the best possible condition. This is especially helpful if you happen to have a cold on the day you're presenting. A teaspoonful of salt and a teaspoonful of baking soda dissolved in a cup of warm water make a simple solution that will wash away phlegm, allergens, and other irritants. After you gargle, coat and soothe your throat with a cup of herbal tea or decaffeinated tea, with plenty of honey. Four: Hydrate. Drink plenty of water before and during your talk. Talking for long periods can dry out your vocal apparatus, making it more prone to damage and fatigue. Avoid foods and beverages that impair your voice. Avoid spicy foods, which can increase the production of stomach acids. Avoid alcohol, which dehydrates. Alcohol, of course, can also impair your performance (not to mention your judgment.) And avoid caffeine, which also dehydrates. Besides, it's a diuretic, and as such can cause other problems. Be aware of any medications you may be taking, such as allergy pills, which can dry out your throat. If you must take your medications without exception, it becomes even more important to hydrate before you speak. Five: Empower Your Voice. There are several ways you can do this. One of the best things you can do is get a good night's sleep. You'll have more vocal energy and will avoid sounding tired. Once you've begun speaking, open your mouth wide. You can't have a big sound unless, to put it bluntly, you have a "big mouth." And do use large gestures. Besides helping you to emphasize a point, large gestures from your shoulders actually reduce upper body tension and empower your voice.

Discover the work you born to do.. p

Discover the work you born to do It seems ingrained in us to either sacrifice our dreams and our deeper self in return for a regular salary, or follow our heart and do something that inspires us and is meaningful, but holds no hope of financial success or security. The dilemma? Do you go for the money or the love and meaning? You can have both, but you need to move beyond the idea that work is something negative, and must involve sacrifice, pain, or boredom. Too few of us truly understand the vocational dimension of work – that it can be a blessing that we love, and which allows our unique gifts and talents to flow out and serve others. Some of the ways to discover the work you have born to do. 1. Through your inspiration, joy and a sense of calling It is the work that would inspire you, you feel called to and your heart calls you to. It is what you are naturally drawn to and curious about. It is what you would most love to do. 2. Behind your greatest resistance The twin soul of inspiration is resistance, and often the work you’d most love to do is what you spend most time and energy procrastinating about, avoiding, making excuses why you haven’t done it and talking yourself out of. Most people are beaten by their resistance and never reach their full potential. 3. In your shadow life The talents you have disowned become your unlived life, which you can only see in others. You can be close to the work you’d love, but you are more comfortable seeing other people’s creativity and talent – afraid to acknowledge your own. Begin to put own your talents out there and move them towards the centre of your life. Your playing small doesn’t serve the world. 4. Under the statement “I don’t know” Often we genuinely don’t know, but with good questions and coaching, we can reach clarity. I don’t know also masks I am afraid to know because then I’d have to change, and that scares me even more. We can confuse I don’t know what with I don’t know how. Don’t deny what you know you’d love to do because you don’t know how you could do it and succeed with it. You can learn. 5. Through your naturalness, seen in the eyes of others A great blind spot most of us have is to our natural abilities and talents. We value struggle, not ease, so don’t value or even see what comes easily to us, and can easily dismiss it, missing our own unique brilliance. Notice how others acknowledge and appreciate you. 6. In your lost dreams and your underutilized talent Often, as children, we do know what we’d love to do, but we can be actively discouraged from it, criticized for it or somehow abandon our passions to join the grown up world of working for money. You can go back and reconnect with what you loved, and sometimes this can be painful but poignant. 7. Behind a wake up call or even a crisis A refusal to listen to our intuition and deeper self could precipitate a full-blown crisis. Things fall apart and we can feel awful, but so many people speak in retrospect about their illness/redundancy/bankruptcy being the best thing that ever happened to them. It got them back on track to a greater and more authentic life, but they needed to be broken open, allowing the phoenix to rise from the ashes.