Your brain is incredibly lazy; it likes to make a quick judgment and then stick to it so it doesn’t have to keep thinking. This is why the first few seconds of an interaction act as an “anchor.”
If you walk into a room looking scattered and unsure, that’s the lens people will view you through for the rest of the day. To take control of this:
Check your “entry”: Stand tall, keep your hands out of your pockets, and make relaxed eye contact.
Set the tone: Decide before you walk in that you are capable and at ease.
When you anchor the interaction with calm confidence, you don’t have to work nearly as hard later to “prove” yourself.
