Will Biden be Able to Handle This New Threat from China? [WSW Logo]( At times, our affiliate partners reach out to the Editors at Wall Street Wizardry with special opportunities for our readers. The message below is one we think you should take a close, serious look at. [devider] From the first moment you walk into a room people are making judgements about how much they like you. Fortunately, there are ways to improve your chances M Most of us have come across them at some point - the kind of people who can walk into a room full of strangers but then leave with 10 new friends, a lunch date for the next day, and the promise of an introduction to an industry insider. Charmers. What makes these lucky individuals so effortlessly likeable when many of us have to work so hard at it? While many would have you believe social grace or winning people over is something of an artform, there is a surprising amount of science behind it too. The factors that determine our success with other people, and the impressions we make upon them, can start even before we meet them. Research has proven the people we meet often make judgements about us based purely on the way we look. Alexander Todorov, a professor of psychology at Princeton, has shown that people can make judgements about someoneâs likeability, trustworthiness and competence after seeing their face for less than a tenth of a second. Armed with his natural charm, James Bond has been able to get away with anything (Credit: Getty Images) Armed with his natural charm, James Bond has been able to get away with anything (Credit: Getty Images) âWhile some things, like dominance, are highly related to morphological features, there are things like trustworthiness and even attractiveness which are highly dependent on facial expressions,â says Todorov, whose book Face Value: The Irresistible Influence of First Impressions explores this phenomenon. Making a snap judgement on something so superficial might seem rash, but we do it all the time without even realising. And it can have serious implications. For example, it might influnce who you vote for. One study showed that facial appearance can be used to predict the outcome of elections to the US Senate. Similarly, facial characteristics associated with competence have also been successful in predicting the outcomes of elections involving Bulgarian, French, Mexican and Brazilian politicians. The judgements we make about someoneâs face can influence our financial decisions too. In one experiment, borrowers who were perceived as looking less trustworthy were less likely to get loans on a peer-to-peer lending site. Lenders were making these judgements based on appearance in spite of having information about the borrowers employment status and credit history at their fingertips. Put on a happy face Of course, while you may not be able to control the physical features of your face, it is possible to alter your expressions and smile. Todorov has used data-driven statistical models to build algorithms that can manipulate faces to look more or less trustworthy, allowing him to tease out the features that we trust the most. According to his work, as a face becomes happier, it also becomes more trustworthy. People will perceive a smiling face as more trustworthy, warmer and sociable âPeople will perceive a smiling face as more trustworthy, warmer and sociable,â explains Todorov. âOne of the major inputs to these impressions is emotional expression. If you look at our models and and manipulate the faces to become more trustworthy or extroverted, you see the emotional expression emergeâthe face becomes happy.â The factors that determine our success with other people, and the impressions we make upon them, can start even before we meet them (Credit: Getty Images) The factors that determine our success with other people, and the impressions we make upon them, can start even before we meet them (Credit: Getty Images) For those situations where our first impression has not been as good as we might have hoped, there is also hope â we can still win people over so they forget that initial snap judgement. âThe good news is that we can very quickly override our first impression made based on appearance,â says Todorov. âIf you have the opportunity to meet someone, the moment you have good information about them, you will change the way you perceive them.â If you can impress someone, they will often forget about what they thought when they first saw us, even if it was negative. Channel your charm This is where charm can come in. Olivia Fox Cabane, an executive coach and author of The Charisma Myth, defines charm as likability and âhow delightful it is to interact with someone.â Contrary to popular depictions, being likeable can have its benefits in business. Entrepreneurs with better social skills are more likely to be successful and workers who are well liked are better at getting their way at work. A study by the University of Massachusetts, for example, found that internal auditors who were well liked and provided an organised argument were more likely to have managers agree with their proposals, even if manager would otherwise tend to disagree with the auditors position if they had not met them. Suzanne de Janasz, an affiliated professor of management at Seattle University, says interpersonal skills are becoming increasingly important in the workplace as organisations have done away with older, hierarchical structures in recent years. âItâs become more germane, more critical, to have the ability to work in teams and influence with or without an actual title,â she says. Having a happier facial expression can make you appear more trustworthy (Credit: Social Perception Lab/Princeton University) Having a happier facial expression can make you appear more trustworthy (Credit: Social Perception Lab/Princeton University) Best of all, itâs possible to train yourself to be charming. Jack Schafer, a psychologist and retired FBI special agent who is a likeability coach and author of The Like Switch, points to Johnny Carson as a quintessential example of someone who preferred being alone, but who learned how to be extremely sociable for the camera. The late host of The Tonight Show would go years without giving interviews and once told the LA Times that 98% of the time he went home after the show rather than choosing to socialise with the glitterati. âCarson was an extreme introvert who trained himself to be an extrovert,â says Schafer. âAs soon as the show was over he curled up and went home, but on TV he was famous for smiling and laughing and making jokes.â Raising eyebrows So what can the rest of us do to be more charming? Schafer says charm starts with a simple flash of the eyebrows. The three major things we do when we approach somebody that signals we are not a threat is an eyebrow flash, a slight head tilt, and a smile âOur brains are always surveying the environment for friend or foe signals,â he says. âThe three major things we do when we approach somebody that signal we are not a threat are: an eyebrow flash - a quick up and down movement of the eyebrow that las China just launched a hypersonic nuclear missile around the world. [Missile]( [Here's]( America's response to it. [WSW footer logo]( You are receiving this e-mail because you have expressed an interest in the Financial Education niche on one of our landing pages or sign-up forms on our website. If you {EMAIL} received this e-mail in error and would like to report spam, simply send an email to abuse@wallstreetwizardry.com. Youâll receive a response within 24 hours. Email sent by Finance and Investing Traffic, LLC, owner and operator of Wall Street Wizardry. 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