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How people perceive you can affect whatever you are trying to put across. In fact, as much as eighty percent of the attention of your audience is drawn to how you present yourself and only twenty percent towards your message. Self-image is therefore the key element in helping you become more effective and persuasive in business as well as life in general.

WHAT IS SELF-IMAGE?

The dictionary definition of self-image is the "the idea, conception or mental image one has of oneself." What you think of yourself inside has a tendency to reflect on the outside. It goes without saying then, that your self-image starts from your thoughts about how you view yourself. If you see yourself with all your flaws and in a bad light, people would be more likely to take advantage of you and use you. Likewise, if you portray yourself with as much charisma as you can possibly fathom, then people are more likely to respect you and see you as such. Yet, there is a danger here some people who portray themselves well on the outside do so to lure others into their trap, meaning to get their way even if it causes the uninformed party harm. Therefore, it is best to always reassess yourself and your motives, to ensure you stay genuine. Be true to yourself, as they say. To help you to create your true self-image, let us look at its constituents one by one.

WHAT CONSTITUTES SELF-IMAGE?

There are five main things that make up self-image, namely appearance, mood, voice, confidence and trust.

1. Appearance

"Image is everything" is a well overused slogan. Even today, how you look on the outside implicitly makes people judge you. From the appearance of your suit, to whether your shirt is pressed, to how your hair and face look, to what you smell like all add together to make or break your self-image. It is thus best to dress to impress your audience. Beforehand, find out exactly who it is you're going to be speaking to and present yourself appropriately. Do not wear too much overpowering fragrance this can put people off. Make sure everything you are going to wear to your presentation or meeting is ready in advance preferably the night before. Note also the colours you are wearing. For example, blue is the colour of dominance research shows that if you wear blue, you can become more persuasive and make people take action based upon your instruction. That is why people in authority such as policemen often wear blue. Wearing pink signifies creativity, but be careful not to look too girly.

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