How do you make contact?

To be able to convey a message successfully from sender to receiver, there must be contact. To be able to have an idea, belief or feeling transferred, you need to connect. No transmission without connection, no result without transfer. We live in an era where most stimuli come in through the eyes. Ninety percent of the impressions that we get, have nothing to do with content. Research shows that we base our first impression for 38 percent on tone, colour, and the volume of the voice, and 55 percent on the posture of the body. Only a meagre 7 percent on the words spoken. That same research shows that there are barely 7 seconds available to let all those impressions sink in. Seven seconds is the average time it takes a person to form a first complete opinion. 7 seconds to convert verbal and non-verbal signals in an judgement that determines whether you are going to listen or not, whether you are going to follow or not, whether you trust or not, buy or not, sign or not. We measure in those mere 7 seconds, things as trustworthiness, credibility, honesty, commitment and compassion and we do so, largely based on what we see. Isn't that terrifyingly superficial? It is. But now that you know that it works like this, you can take advantage of it. It underlines the vital importance of making the most of those 7 seconds. If you do it right it will multiply your possibilities, much more than 7 times.