Four Easy Ways To Make A Memorable First Impression

THAT FIRM HANDSHAKE IS GREAT, BUT IT’S WHAT YOU SAY NEXT—AND HOW YOU SAY IT—THAT MATTERS MORE.
BY ANETT GRANT

You already know the basics of leaving a polished first impression, like dressing well, making eye contact, and having a firm handshake. That’s great advice, but it’s probably not enough. If you really want to be memorable (for the right reasons), you need to think about what you say and how you say it. Here are a few straightforward pointers that many people miss.

1. Mix The Business With The Personal

In The Godfather, Michael Corleone tells his brother, “It’s not personal, Sonny. It’s strictly business.” Well, a good first impression should be both personal and “business.” If you connect only at a personal level, you risk seeming unprofessional or irrelevant to whatever business context you may find yourself in. But if you connect only at a business level, you’ll be relevant, but you won’t be nearly as memorable.

A good first impression should be both personal and “business.”

Fortunately, you don’t have to make a trade-off. I just had a phone conversation with a potential client from Berlin who worked in the construction industry. Instead of just saying, “Oh, I’ve worked with many clients in the construction industry,” I tried to connect with him on a more personal level. We ended up discussing construction generally, then landed on the subject of building walls, touching on everything from the Great Wall of China to the Berlin Wall.

These were unplanned digressions—but that’s the point. I’m confident he will remember our conversation not just because I connected on a business level, but because I connected on a personal level. And best of all, you can do this without knowing much about the person you’re speaking with beforehand. My client had grown up in Berlin and worked in construction, so it wasn’t totally unusual that we’d discuss the Berlin Wall—something very well known that might have some personal (not just business) relevance for him. Sure enough, it did.

2. Drop A Powerful Statistic

Public speakers and writers are often counseled to use compelling facts and figures to grab audiences’ attention, but the same technique can work in one-on-one conversations, too. If you’re able to impress someone with a data point they’ve never heard before, they’re likely to remember you—no matter what the context.

And the more relevant the statistic is to their business concerns, the better. For example, a client who works in staffing recently told me that his firm was able to consistently predict whether or not employees would be successful after 13 weeks of work. Not 12 weeks, not 14 weeks, but 13 weeks—the specificity of that time frame stuck with me. The statistic wasn’t only interesting, as he gave me an insight that may be important to me as I keep growing my own business.

3. Offer A “Did You Know?”

It doesn’t have to be a business-related stat, though. Offer the person you’re speaking with an interesting fact that they can use in their personal life. You can also make an impression with basically any kind of a thought-provoking insight that they’ll want to tell people outside of work. The point is just to be interesting.

For instance, I recently learned that the human brain processes visual information 60,000 times faster than text. That’s a fascinating nugget of information that can spark conversation in virtually any context—and it might even be relevant to how you approach your own work or presentations.

4. Be Authentically Curious

Beyond all the techniques and tips, perhaps the most powerful way to make a memorable first impression is to be genuinely curious about the person you’re meeting. Ask thoughtful questions. Listen actively. Show real interest in their experiences and perspectives. People remember those who make them feel heard and valued far more than they remember those who simply perform well.

When you combine authentic curiosity with the ability to connect on both personal and professional levels, you create a lasting impression that goes far beyond a firm handshake. You become someone worth remembering—and more importantly, someone worth continuing the conversation with.