Personal Impact: Make Waves In The Workplace
February 20th, 2009. Published under Presentation. No Comments.
The phrase personal impact is often banded about office buildings and is used as a bit of a buzz word, but what does it mean and what is the value of having or developing personal impact skills? The workplace and job market is inundated with many professionals and applicants with similar qualifications, so how can you make sure you get noticed and ultimately have the success you want?
Personal impact does what it says on the tin. It allows you to have an impact on people and to stand out from the crowd. Call it charisma, presence, magnetism, if you have it you will find it easier to get people to like you, remember you, and be influenced by you. There is a myth surrounding personal impact that it is just something you are born with. This is not the case, as the skills can be developed through training, practise, feedback and more practise.
It is possible for shy people to improve their confidence and assertiveness and for those who are naturally more technical or academic to develop their people skills. Even those who already have a good level of personal impact can enhance it, so that they promote themselves better and develop stronger rapport with people.
One of the most important situations where personal impact is crucial is when meeting people for the first time. Whether you like it or not, people size you up within seconds of meeting you. First impressions really are lasting impressions and all the research shows you never get a second chance to make that crucial first impression.
This is true whether you’re going for an interview, presenting your ideas in a meeting, attending a networking event or going out on a date.. Personal Impact training will take you through some important techniques for improving your impact when you first meet someone.
Body language, posture, eye contact and voice resonance are all recognisable traits of confidence that can be trained to increase your impact. When constant, non-intrusive eye contact is combined with definite, refined gestures, the illusion of confidence can be portrayed even if you are nervous under the surface. After this has been tried and tested in situations it becomes integrated into your manner and from it springs genuine confidence.
Many people lack the confidence to voice and effectively communicate ideas. This confidence can be used as a vessel for your ideas, increasing the chances of them being heard and considered. With confidence your visibility within a team rises without becoming obtrusive to other team members. As a result, you’ll have greater personal impact and command more respect, which will lead to further opportunities internally and externally, in professional and personal life.
Other skills that can be learnt include active listening, rapport building, assertiveness, influencing and persuading and dealing with difficult people. These can all be applied to improve interpersonal work relations. You can also learn how to raise your profile within a company by developing your own personal brand and tooting your horn without boasting or bragging.
Personal impact skills can be applied for short term solutions to situations such as crisis handling or job interviews, however if developed over a period of time, these skills can make a massive difference to your professional and personal life. Simple changes explored in the controlled environment of personal impact skills training can become integrated into your natural demeanour, developing into confidence that will make you stand out.
Dominic Donaldson is leading consultant in personal impact skills and delivers workshops across the globe.