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Even When There is No Rooster, the Morning Will Still Start

*African proverb

A couple of months ago I found myself spending the night in a rather quaint village just off the coast of Cornwall in England. There I did something I hadn’t done in a long time: I woke up at the crack of dawn, no thanks to the pesky rooster perched right outside my bedroom window, crowing to its own delight.

Over the weekend, as the world ushered in the Lunar New Year of the Rooster, I thought about my feathered friend in Cornwall and the importance of capturing attention. While my unwanted wake-up call was upsetting, I was eventually thankful to the rooster as I got to experience the wonderful sight of the sun rising gloriously over the hills of Cornwall.

As we juggle through our various daily functions in work and life, let us never underestimate the value of our opening acts. In fact, it would certainly be beneficial to invest in some time to think about the first impressions we make rather than leaving it to our natural instinctive behaviours.

For instance, put yourself in the role of your interviewer and honestly evaluate yourself – from your clothes to your gait as you walk into the room – are you conveying confidence and assuredness, or are you giving out negative vibes and capturing attention in the wrong way? You may be well qualified for the job but you’re going to have to work so much harder to overcome any negative non-verbal cues that crop up (often times unknowingly) during those first few precious seconds.

How about the effects of the first words you utter as chair of a meeting? Have you ever dived in straight to the point, only to find your audience slowly drifting away and losing their focus on the topic at hand? An effective opening line can bring the focus to the present time, place and most importantly, to yourself. It need not even relate to the subject of the meeting. A simple ‘How’s your day been?’ or ‘Had your lunch?’ can set your audience at ease, ready to listen to what you have to say.

As the saying goes, you never get a second chance to make a first impression. Not all of us are natural attention grabbers like the cawing rooster and even if some of us are, not everyone wants to be startled by an unruly screech at first light. Though the morning will still come – rooster or no rooster – practising an elegant crow will certainly make it a better, more focused start for your audience, resulting in a sure win for you.

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