Page 53 - ConvinceThemFlip

neutralize the fight-or-flight response
EXERCISE
Snap Judgments
• Try this at a function, a trade show, or in the grocery
store line—somewhere you encounter strangers
you can approach. Pick out a person you think has
some of the negative aspects in the list on page 43,
ask them where something is—the rest room or the
deli—and check out their response to see how valid
your evaluation was. Repeat the exercise with someone
exhibiting the positive aspects and see if they match
up to your expectations. In both cases, try to pinpoint
what you saw in the other person that led you to this
evaluation.
• Look at some of your office mates and try to evaluate
them as if it were the first time you were seeing them.
Does this I’ve-never-seen-you-before evaluation agree
with what you know about this person? What does this
tell you about the way you typically evaluate people on
first sight?
• Dig out some photos of yourself, old and recent, and see
what cues you were and are giving off. Figure out what
they tell you about your personality and relationships
at the time they were taken. This will help you become
sensitized to what you are communicating through your
appearance and the effect that has on how you connect
with others.
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