According to Presence, a new book by Harvard Business School professor Amy Cuddy, people assess you on two main criteria¹ when they first meet you:

 

1. Can I trust this person?

 

2. Can I respect this person?

 

You level of trustworthiness, or warmth, is the most important factor in how people initially² perceive you, Cuddy says - yet many mistakenly believe that the second factor, characterised as competence³, is more important.

 

"From an evolutionary⁴ perspective," Cuddy writes, "it is more crucial to our survival to know whether a person deserves our trust."

 

While displaying competence is certainly beneficial, particularly in a work setting, Cuddy warns that focusing on winning people's respect, while failing to win their trust, can backfire - a common problem for young professionals attempting to make a good impression early on in their careers.

 

"If someone you're trying to influence doesn't trust you, you're not going to get very far; in fact, you might even elicit⁵ suspicion because you come across as manipulative," Cuddy says.

 

"A warm, trustworthy person who is also strong elicits⁶ admiration⁷, but only after you've established trust does your strength become a gift rather than a threat."

点击收听单词发音