First impressions don't matter

At the end of my VizThink workshop on Monday, a bunch of people came up afterwards to talk about solving problems with pictures. The funniest was Richard Mulholland, the certifiable lunatic who runs the South African presentation consultancy Missing Link.

(Richard is the less photogenic one on the right. Managing Director Sam is on the left.)

Starting out with the obligatory, "I can't draw, but..." (actually, it was more, "I draw like a $#@&-ing idiot, but...), Richard then proceeded to draw for me the best napkin sketch I've seen in months.

Richard, who as a presentation pro makes a living making first impressions, has come to the realization that first impressions don't mean a %$@! thing. (And he takes himself -- tattoos, silly hats, loud manner -- as his test case.) What *does* matter is LAST impressions.

And here's why (I'm channeling Richard now):

'Imagine that two people are competing for a consulting gig at a bank. One is a certifiable lunatic with tattoos, the other a nice looking chap with a tie and a briefcase. When they first meet the client, the former makes a terrible first impression (the client actually laughed when I walked in), and the latter makes a great first impression.' Like this:

'By the end of the meeting, Mr. Tie has said all the right things and proven his competence in completing the job, leaving an even higher last impression. But Mr. Tattoos has also said all the right things and impressed the client with his energy and competence. He leaves behind a lower overall impression, but one so far above where he began that the client is truly impressed.'

'So looking at the total impression -- comparing the difference between first and last impressions, who do you think gets remembered and gets the gig?'

Richard calls this the "sailboat' chart, for obvious reasons. He drew it on stage at TED Global, hoping to take Malcolm Gladwell out at the knees.

Malcolm apparently had made a pretty remarkable first impression.

Comments

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Malcolm apparently had made a pretty remarkable first impression.

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[Jens Ole Amstrup, Soulfighters]

Hi Dan
Totally agree with the sailboat chart - and very funny too (Mulholland made an instant impact on me too - owe him a coffee, by the way). I guess all this goes to prove your points: Everybody can draw and a napkin will do the trick for you.

Looking forward to you book.

Jens Ole / Soulfighters