.Thursday, August 7, 2008 ' 11:10 PM Y
Building a Professional PresenceLike what Mr Nair says, "
Attire is a language, clothing defines us and describe us".
I felt that it is very very true and couldn't help but nod in agreement continuously. In our reality world,
first impression is very vital, especially our physical appearance.
Let me narrow down to just purely going to school. I still remember seeing different people dressing different.
There are people who put alot of make-ups and dressing up
and the first thought to me was "are they proud?" or "they are confirm super rich" or even "they are bimbotic". These are the thoughts that came upon me.
There are even people who are nerd-looking or had a very "guai" look
All these different dressing really makes us form a perception of how we judge others which constitutes to how we will treat them.
Thinking back on how I dress ot school, my friends gave me comments recently, when we touch on the topic on entering Temasek Polytechnic, that I was perceived as "toot" [which means not into fashion] with my hair all over the place, fringe convering almost half of my face. It didn't occurred to be that with my fringe covering my face, I could jolly well scare the hell out of people.
Building a Professional Presence applies to
ladies and gentlemen.
To recap:Ladies:
jacket, blouse, skirt, slacks, shoes & hosery, jewellery/accessories, make-up & groomingGentlemen:
hairstyle, shirt, jacket, tie, jewellery/accessories, trousers, shoes, socksHow we are suppose to dress and dress accordingly to special occasions, meetings, and situations we are going to face.
Moreover, i learn that
personal hygiene plays another important role too. Imagine someone who comes and shakes your hand, where you notice that his bitten nails are dirty. Also, you will not want people to feel disgusted even by looking at your oily face.
Keeping good personal hygiene is very important as it will affect myself as well as those people around me. I will not want people to distant themselves from me just because my personal hygiene is bad.
It really made me reflect alot on myself and i really learn alot.
Keeping my nails clean
a neat hairdo
Proper and clean shoes
and dress prim and proper
and even to proper make-up and behaviour.
Ever since I went through Business Etiquette, my classamtes and lecturers commented that my hair is neater and my facial features are more visible now. I know how to dress for which occassion and how to improve my own personal hygiene.
Besides knowing how to dress appropriate and personal hygiene, i learnt about meeting and greeting, and even the proper way to do a
PROFESSIONAL HANDSHAKE!I always thought handshakes are just a handshake, why must we go to the extend of learning a proper handshake? However, I came to realise that
handshakes are really important.
Well, i will not want people to be obliged to shake hands with me if my palms are sweaty or hands are dirty. I have friends who have sweaty palms, and it is really hard for me to reject their handshakes.
An incident whereby my friend used my handphone to text another friend of ours. Upon returning my phone back to me, i realise
my phone became "wet" due to her sweaty palms. It is rather hard for me to say "eee..u made my phone wet!" to her, instead I just cleaned it away discretely and kept my phone back.
It will be rude of me if I had blamed her for it. Even besides sweaty palms,
we should have the habit of cleaning our hands dry before handshakes as it will be perceive as no respect or rudeness.From then on, i learn how to dry my hands thoroughly after visiting the washroom so that I will not cause a awkward scene e.g. a client or acquaintance declining a handshake offer from me.
Moreover, I felt that it is a basic courtesy to keep my hands dry after visiting the washroom.
Let me take an example; My hands are wet and I tapped my friend's back to call for her. However, I forgot that my hands are wet and cause her back to be wet with my "palm print". Through this topic, it makes me think further than what I'm being taught. It caution me of how should I approach people or even start a topic. This leads me to safe topics for small talks or starting a topic.
Through observation and experience, i realise that teenagers like to gossip alot nowadays. They can be talking about their favouite star, another friend or foe or even complain about their problems. We maybe too used to gossiping that when we meet new friends or in future, our clients, we tend to start off our topic with the "
latest gossip at town". I, personally, failed to realise that not everyone favours gossips. Moreover, it is a taboo to start off a topic with gossips.
Gradually, I learnt my mistake and found new topics that are considered "
safe" to talk about. It can be..
Sports
Entertainment
or even the simplest thing..
WEATHER!
All these information entrusted to me, really safeguards my business in future or even friends I encounter. If i hadn't know all these information, I may screw up my business dealings with my clients, even from a simple handshake to my basic grooming.
