When you are a professional, your personal habits, communication style, dressing and grooming, social media commentary, everything matters. 

Here are some tips to ace your game as a professional and build an extraordinary image: 

1. Work on your appearance

It takes about 7 seconds for other people to build your first impression. Your profession and your trustworthiness will be judged by your clothing and grooming. You can shift your image from casual, available, and easy to approach. You can move towards being more trustworthy, capable and influential, only by changing your appearance. Few tips to follow:

• avoiding clothes that are crumpled, too loose, or too tight
• Avoid wearing bright and shinier fabric 
• exercising proper hygiene for your teeth, nails, and hair
• Avoid wearing trendy clothes, wear more classics to look more professional 

2. Manage your habits

Your success lies in your daily habits. Here are some professional habits that can elevate your career.  

• Learn to take and even seek out, constructive feedback
• Be punctual 
• Respect and achieve deadlines
• Keep personal problems out of the workplace
• Proactively learn skills
• Ask smart questions
• Admit mistakes

3. Regulate your social media accounts

If you run your social media accounts, don’t forget to modify (or delete) them to better suit your desired image. When working toward this goal, a good rule of thumb is to keep your personal life separate from your professional life. This means you should delete or at least hide inappropriate posts, personal experiences, and the like.

4. Connect with the right people

Rapport building is an essential part of your professional image. Your attitude and identity is determined by the company you keep and the people you connect with. Make sure to use your appearance to create an extraordinary first impression and then put your professional communication skills in use to hold on to that impression created and generate further bonding. Connecting with the right people can open doors for a plethora of opportunities and help you widen your knowledge. Learn the art of networking and rapport building. 

5. Improve your communication skills.

Communication will always be a crucial skill wherever you are, whomever you work for. That’s precisely why people with excellent communication skills are often sought after in the business world. Communication skills are a powerful tool to create a strong professional image. Right from developing the skillset of listening, delivering speeches, giving presentations, providing feedback and negotiating. Everywhere your verbal and non-verbal communication skills will come in handy. 

To conclude this: 

While improving your professional image can be a long, challenging process, the rewards have the potential to be massive. Greet everyone with a firm handshake, have a subtle smile on your face, be an assertive speaker, develop positive professional habits, refrain from fidgeting, and have a good sense of self-esteem. 

If you want to know more about building image, you can book an appointment, which will be a free call to explore your requirements and challenges and a plan to work on that.