Purpose

This training exercise helps delegates on two levels, it demonstrates the importance of creating a good first impression and also how judging people based on the first impression is often inaccurate.

Objective

The objective is for participants to write down their impression of a stranger after seeing their picture for the first time.

Resources You Need

• One photograph of a person known to you but unknown to participants for each team. This could be a photo of one of your colleagues, friends or family members.

Setup

• Split the group into teams of three to four people.
• Each team is given one photograph and has 5 minutes to write down their first impression of the person in the photo purely based on what they see. Each team can comment on the person’s job or profession, marital status, income, the car they drive, the supermarket they shop in or the area they live in.
• Collect the photos and answers from the teams. Compare each team’s first impression with the facts about that person.

Timing

Explaining the Exercise: 5 minutes.

Activity: 5 minutes

Group Feedback: 20 minutes.

Discussion

How accurate our first impressions are? Is it a good idea to form judgments about people before knowing much about them? What are the problems with being judgemental about customers? How presentations and first impressions affect the way we are perceived by others?