How Not to Make A Fool of Yourself When Meeting People

Co-Writers:

Maddy

Emma

Li

                How to introduce yourself to people in a formal setting. As a group we know that in formal or business settings you should make a good impression on first meeting a person, be it for a job interview, or meeting someone for the first time like your significant other’s parents. Our intended audience is someone in a continuing education class, most likely a business class, or a class intended to prepare a person for interviews.

Steps:

Smile and make eye contact.  Photos taken by Li.

• Smile and make eye contact with the person you are introducing yourself to. Maintain the eye contact.
• Start by smiling at the person you are introducing yourself too. Having a pleasant expression will make both you and other person more comfortable with the meeting. You should also make eye contact with the person and maintain it. Your eyes should not leave theirs unless they are required.
• Walk toward the person. Do not trip.
• After you have maintained eye contact with the other individual, you should feel comfortable enough to walk up to them. While walking up to the individual, do not walk too fast or too slow. Approach the individual at a normal walking pace, and watch the way you walk. Walk with a formal stance, stand tall with confidence and make sure that you do not drag your feet on the ground as you approach them.

  

  Do not trip.

  

  Walk toward.

• Extend right hand while saying “Hello my name is...."



Extend

• You should look at the person who faced you and do a quick look to find where the person's hand is. Make sure you do not miss each other's hand. Also, when you are exiting the right hand out, you should make a short introduction; tell the person your name.
• Firmly grasp their hand.



Firm grasp

• After introducing yourself to the individual, firmly grasp their hand and start to shake it. In any formal situation, you want the handshake to be firm. If the handshake between the two individuals is too loose, then it may look like you do not want to get to know the other person, or it may look like you don't really care about the introduction situation.
• Pump hand twice.



Second



One pump

• Now you are holding hands you must shake them. Pump hands or shake them up and down, twice and only twice. Any more than twice is awkward, and any less is also awkward. Once you have pumped twice you must release their hand. Just let go!
• Take a step back to avoid awkward closeness.



Step away

• After the shake hands step, if you still want to talk about other things together, you should take a step back first. Because the distance between two of you should be too close for talking, take a step back can help you to avoid awkward closeness.
• Feel accomplished that you have properly introduced yourself.



Feel accomplished!

• Walking up to someone is never an easy task. You should pat yourself on the back for growing the confidence to say hello. Indulge in the conversation. Ask the person how their day is going or talk about the weather.

Cultural Awareness:

There are many different cultures where the introduction above could be considered disrespectful.

• In Spanish culture a hug and two kisses on the cheek is a more appropriate introduction.
• In Tuvalu relatives will press cheek to cheek and sniff deeply.
• In Greece instead of handshaking they clap each other on the back.
• Mozambique here people clap hands three times before saying hello
• In South Africa they have an interesting handshake.


• First: Clasp pinkies
• Second: Clasp fists
• Third: Clasp pinkies again
  
  
  

How accurate these examples of different cultures are I am uncertain, but I can only hope a fellow blogger would not lie. Check out more here!