First Impressions

Making good First Impressions is a pretty regular, strong professional development priority both at home and/or in the work place! Whether the issue is dress… being on time for anything… or communicating well… all are areas that require quality First Impressions every time and everywhere.

This month’s Inspiring Innovations LEARNING MOMENTS Podcast not only stresses the progressive value of making strong First Impressions… but also stresses their timeless and priceless value to everyone as a professional. Taking the necessary time to take stock of one's First Impressions value in every life setting… is truly time well invested.

Enjoy the listen. 

Transcript

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Hello again, and welcome to the May of 2026 Inspiring Innovations Learning Moments podcast. My name is Marv Pickla, and I have the privilege of being your monthly discussionist host for pre professional development topics across the board. These monthly podcasts focus mainly on leadership and communication and professional development in general, and of course, my favorite, innovation. Each inspiring innovation's learning moments message is short in duration and tries to stay within 10 minutes or so, which goes along with my own personal short attention span. But it's it's it's shared uh on social media on the 15th of every month. So it's kind of out there, available to everybody. And the simple goal from the beginning of time was to offer short pieces of insight and advice to help everybody personally and professionally. Another creativity issue that I've shared in the past is that I never am sure where inspiration for the next learning moments podcast may come from. Maybe from my farm background, family or friends, the students in my college classes, you know, that I teach, or maybe from my consultant experiences and interactions. And the bottom line, I really never know when that special moment might hit me. Well, this month, this month's inspiration comes from my newest grandson, Theo. And because my son Nick and his wife Mindy live and work in Green Bay, Wisconsin, yeah, quite a ways away, our opportunity to see and interact with this fun two and a half-year-old is a blast every time. And our latest time together was just a week or so ago, and it's always special to walk through the door and kind of announce, hey, what's Superman doing? Well, the instant smile, the hug of a greeting, and the grabbing of my hand to get me involved in his world just as great every time. But why is this description of this cool event important to the inspiring innovations, learning moments, discussions? It's because we need, we all need to continually know and recognize the tremendous value of first impressions. First impressions. Let me say that as a career-long employment training and jobs guy, I can't even begin to tell you the number of times I've explained the extremely high value of making a first grade impression when going to a job interview or meeting someone special for that first time, or representing a company at a function that is a critical customer to your organization. You should always know that making that first great impression to someone or a group of people will have a lasting impact, both good or bad, and only you, you, have the opportunity to make sure that it's a good one. So maybe to better understand the full extent of what a first impression totally entails, let's go over, you know, maybe the different aspects. Number one, first, and maybe it's uh totally obvious, but it's professional dress. My ma always said if you want people to know you mean business, you need to always dress like you mean business. Those words of advice have served me so well over my whole career. And yes, I I refer to my suit and tie dress coat as my version of a uniform for the workday. But the first impression result is obtaining almost immediate respect, immediate professional respect, and maybe almost an interesting, trustworthy level of attention from whomever I'm interacting with. And I know you know what I mean. Choosing the brand and level of professionalism with regard to dress is totally up to you. So always, always I recommend choosing the high road. Okay? A second aspect of making a great first impression lies in the area of being timely. In my world, being late for a meeting or a deadline leaves a very important negative observation in the room that unfortunately may be very hard to erase. Being on time for work every day, for neighborhood events, maybe kids' soccer games, whatever, is an area of first profession first impressionism. I wanted to create that word, that other colleagues, family, and friends, they notice, they do notice, man. No one may say a word to you about being late, but that first impression factor, that first impression factor may cause you grief at another time or place you may never know. Third, let's talk about first impressions in the context of communication. Something as simple as mispronouncing people's names, using inappropriate words during important discussions, or in general, you know what I mean, gossiping about anything can totally jeopardize the need to make and the ability to make a first good impression, no matter the audience, that communication factor. You know, whether the communication situation is in person, in writing, or on social media these days, you and only you hold the keys to making that first impression one that people will finally remember or quickly want to forget. Does this remind you that you should really think more about what you say or what you write before you say it? Yes. Finally, finally. Let's talk about first impressions being both timeless and priceless, okay? What do I mean? Well, let's go back with regard to my grandson Theo. My first impression with him is unique and special every time, every time we get back together. So my point is that it is important that you use every personal interaction as the opportunity to make a new, lasting first impression, no matter the time, person, or situation. Might it erase a past incident that didn't go too well? Who knows? But regardless, if you think about timeless and priceless first impressions, first, you see what I mean? You think about that first, you'll be fine most of the time. Well, guess what? We are out of time once more. But I hope my discussion about the short and long-range importance of making a great first impression every day, every day, I know you'll, it'll help both at home and at work. So remember, the importance of dress the part, dress like a mean business, be timely all the time, not just regular, but all the time. And communicate well. No matter the media that you're using, communicate well. And if you do, people will always appreciate your first impressions in a progressive and timeless way. Thank you so much one more time for listening, and we for sure will discuss more next month.