On first impressions

The Studio Edit: your weekly curated, not calculated, curiosity feed

September has always felt like a reset button for me. Maybe it’s all those years of new terms, fresh notebooks and sharpened pencils, but the ‘back to school’ feeling still lingers.

September also makes me pause and reflect. It’s a natural moment to look back at how I’ve handled things at work from the conversations I could have approached differently to the times I wish I’d shown up with more patience. The older I get, the more I realise that 90% of the job is in the art of persuasion. How you show up, how you’re perceived and experienced, often matters as much as what you know.

Photo by Brett Jordan on Unsplash

We’re often told: you don’t get a second chance at a first impression. But I beg to differ. We are not static beings. We change and evolve with experience, the seasons and with what’s happening around us and when we change, so can the way people perceive us.

Smart is Sexy

recently wrote about the importance of showing up for yourself, right down to the small presence cues you send. That struck a chord. I easily fall into the habit of rotating the same clothes each week, sitting at the same desk (both half-hearted attempts at reducing decision fatigue). But it’s not just about clothes or the desk choice, it’s about eye contact, posture, the energy you bring into a room. Small shifts in these cues can make you feel more confident and that confidence reshapes how others experience you.

This isn’t just about what people see when you walk into a room. As

Leila Ainge

wrote in her Substack piece, the impressions we make often begin much earlier, in an email, a message or the way we frame our ideas in writing. The words we choose, the tone we take, even how we sign off can all signal confidence, clarity, or hesitancy.

It reminded me that first impressions are multi-layered: they’re visual, verbal and written. Which means we have more opportunities than we think to influence how others perceive us.

Science backs this up too. Forbes recently highlighted research which shows how rapid and automatic first impressions are: a survival instinct that helps us quickly judge whether someone is trustworthy. Brands know this, it’s why the first 5 seconds of an ad are the most important.

First impressions are everything and yet, they are not the only thing.

Harvard Business Review offered a helpful counterpoint: in most cases, impressions unfold in two phases. The first is that subconscious snap judgment. The second, just as important, is the more considered evaluation that comes through actions, consistency and achievement. Which means a first impression may be fast, but it doesn’t have to be final.

Second chances aren’t just about correcting a misstep; they can also be about showing your growth, sharing what you have learned and evolving the story others tell about you. As Jackie’s Newsletter suggests, it’s worth asking for feedback - is the impression you’re leaving match the one you intend?

We are never just one version of ourselves, however much others may want to fix us in place. A new impression can be the difference between getting that promotion or having to wait another year.

So as September unfolds, I’m asking myself: what impression do I want to create now and what old one am I ready to leave behind?