One tenth of a second. That is how long it takes for someone to form an opinion of you. More unsettling still: looking longer does not change their judgement, it only makes them more confident in it.
The judgement is already made. Competence, confidence, likeability: all of it is assessed before the first word. What follows only confirms or corrects, and correcting costs far more.
Everything comes down to details. The cut, the fabric, the care, the framing of a profile photo. These are not aesthetic details: they are information you send without having chosen it.
Colours speak before you do. In person as online, colour is the first signal received; it sets an emotion before your name has been read.
Standing out is a strategic choice, not a risk. In a room where everyone wears black, the right colour is enough to make you exist. The real risk is the opposite: being interchangeable. It has to be your colour, the one that shows you at your best rather than disguising you.
Source for the tenth of a second: Willis, J. and Todorov, A. (2006), First Impressions: Making Up Your Mind After a 100-Ms Exposure to a Face, Psychological Science, 17(7), 592-598, Princeton University.
The exercise
Show your profile photo to three people who do not know you, and ask for three words. In five minutes you will know what your image says before you do.
Your image deserves the same work.
A first conversation, no commitment, to take stock of your image.
