The 15-minute Rule to earn instant credibility

How do you judge a person you’re meeting for the first time?

Non-verbal cues, body language, dressing sense, social manners, behaviour, mobile phone(!) or something else? While some of these are legit ways of forming a first impression, personally I follow just one principle: punctuality.

Punctuality means being on-time.
And being on-time means being 15 minutes early.

Being 15 minutes early shows that you respect and value the time of the person you’re meeting. It also give you the opportunity to:

  1. Get yourself used to the new environment.
  2. Calm yourself down, take a washroom break, have a glass of water.
  3. Rehearse the agenda for discussion, revise your pitch, if any.

It is clearly the easiest way to gain instant credibility and ace a meeting. Hence I call it the 15-minute Rule.

If the person you’re meeting asks, “Would you like a glass of water?” then it means either of the two things viz.

  • he/she’s being polite
  • it shows on your face that you just managed to be ‘on-time’ (probably still panting from your commute)

Now you know what it takes you to answer confidently, “Hey thank you, I just had a glass while waiting outside.”

Cover photo by Chris Liverani 

About Tonmoy Goswami

Founder, Storypick.
Read • Travel • Create • Experience⚡

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