Whether you’re trying to succeed in a job interview or make someone fall in love with you, learning how to make a good first impression is something that’s important and do-able…even if “interesting” isn’t the first adjective people would think of to describe you.
You don’t have to be the most interesting person to make people think you’re interesting. All you need to do is figure out what your good stories are and learn to tell them in an engaging way.
Step One: Make it About the Other Person
There is nothing that people find more interesting than talking about themselves. If you’re being interviewed, it might not be appropriate to be the one asking the questions, but if you’re just trying to impress someone with your coolness, start of making the conversation all about them.
Here are some good places to start…
- So, where are you from?
- What do you do?
- Do you have any siblings?
- What was your childhood like?
Most everyone loves to talk about him/herself, so making the primary focus be him/her will make him/her think that you are super awesome.
Step Two: Find a Way to Work in the Coolest Thing That Ever Happened to You
If you’re not a conversationalist by nature, this will take a little preplanning, but if you are leading the conversation, asking the questions, you can ask some sort of leading question that will set you up to tell the story about that one time you … did something really cool.
It’s important that this story isn’t overly braggy or overly pitiful. You don’t want to tell a sob story but you also don’t want to talk about how successful you are. That will turn people off. A safe play is to tell a story where something cool happened to you by chance. Maybe you were one of the lucky ones who crossed paths with Jake Gyllenhaal on a subway in NYC (apparently he rides the subway a lot).
Step Three: Refer Back to What You Found Out During Step One and Find Common Ground
After you’ve told your cool story, try to remember something you found out when you were asking 20 questions to your new person and then find a way to relate yourself to something they talked about or are interested in. For bonus points, figure out a way to turn one of these common interests into a future hangout.
You play badminton? That was one of my favorite things to play in P.E. back when I was in school. Do you think there are any gyms with badminton leagues in the area? We should look into it and play sometime!
If It’s an Interview Situation
Interview situations are different, because you’re not the one who is in control of the conversation. So, if you find yourself being asked all the questions, just keep these things in mind –
- Don’t humble brag: Humble bragging is when you say things as if you’re putting yourself down, but you’re actually trying to tell everyone how awesome you are. Example: I haven’t been following what happened in Ferguson because I was out of the country…
- If they ask you what your greatest weakness is, don’t tell them it’s that you “work too hard” or “care too much.” This is something else that is just really annoying. “I’m a perfectionist.” Don’t say that.
- Ask questions: Most employers will conclude a job interview by asking you if you have any questions. This is a very important part of the interview. Saying “nothing” will do nothing to impress your employer. If you can think of a question that shows you were really listening or have truly researched the company or the position you will be up for, this will be impressive. The best thing you can do is ask something that the employer may not have considered yet…helping them solve a problem they might not have known was there.
Follow these tips and you’ll be on your way to making people think you’re totally awesome.