Free To Be.

Girl Scout Conference and First Impressions

Right now I’m at a Girl Scout leadership conference. A big topic of all of the workshops and a big topic on my brain is first impressions. The first workshop I attended today (Sat. 2/4/06) was called “Putting Your Best Foot Forward.” The speaker told everyone something I’ve heard many times but it’s useful to keep remembering: everyone forms impressions of you during the first 30 to 60 seconds of meeting you. The speaker also talked about ‘elevator speeches’ and how when you only have around a minute tops to talk to someone “in an elevator” and make a good impression, say at a place you just got a job at and you see a manager in the elevator or hallway, you definitely want to make a good impression on them. Also, one of the organizers of the conference and who I also consider a mentor of mine for the Girl Scout project I’m working on, told some of the Girl Scout council women about my project and that I could show them a short movie I have about the South African group I filmed. I HOPE that they were interested in what I’m doing and that I made a good first impression on them. To relate this to blogs, ePortfolios, and websites, first impressions play a big role in online interactions and connections. Even though there may not be a real front page or cover of your ePortfolio, you’ll still have a first page and you want to make sure that it looks interesting but also somehow connects with your audience, whether they are potential employers or they’re college administration staff. I just started thinking again about what the speaker said about what you need to be aware of when you’re communicating with another person or a group of people. These communication skills I learned work perfectly for blogs, ePortfolios, and websites as well. I just wrote two of the many different things covered in the workshop to be aware that you’re doing while communicating with someone (make sure that you seem interesting and interested and be aware of your audience). Sometimes I don’t like these kind of workshops when the speaker says: “You SHOULD do this! You CAN’T do that!” Some of the things that have been discussed in the workshops are personal preference. But back to first impressions, people are forming impressions of every new person they meet; at this conference, I have three roommates, one I know already but the two others I didn’t. At first I didn’t know what to think of them because they’re friends and they weren’t talking to me or the girl I know. But today we started talking and getting to know each other more. [EDIT (1/5/06 2:46PM): Actually, they did end up seeming like I thought they would once I got to know them more.. but you never know!] So, sometimes your impressions change, and sometimes I think you should let them change. On the other hand, if you have a gut-feeling that something about a person isn’t right, then I would definitely go with my gut. I went off on another tangent, but I’m going to get off my laptop and go to sleep! Edit (1/5/06): Also, to add to what I said last night. I think when I’m creating ePortfolios, blogs, websites, movies, and any other things I can create, I really need to remember first impressions. I know you can’t “judge a book by its cover” but a person still might not look inside a book or continue looking through a blog or a website or stop watching a movie, if the book, blog, website or movie doesn’t create a good impression.

posted by Cassie @ 2/05/2006 03:39:00 PM