We Like Beautiful People
The link between likeability and beauty is no secret. We like beautiful people and we treat them differently, better.
The benefits of beauty begin at birth. Good looking infants are held more frequently and they are told by adults how attractive they are from the moment they’re born.
When attractive children are old enough to attend school, their beauty is further rewarded with better grades and more positive attention from the other students and their teachers. As young adults, good looking teenagers are asked out on more dates, they’re more popular in school and they generally have a much higher self esteem. And the benefits don’t stop there. Good looking adults are more likely to be elected to office, get a higher paying job and avoid jail time if they’re convicted of a crime.
Study after study shows that good looking people have a huge advantage over their average looking peers when it comes to social interaction. Because we expect good looking people to be smarter, healthier and funnier than the general population, they tend to live up to our expectations. It’s known as the Pygmalion Effect.
The Pygmalion Effect
The Pygmalion Effect is a form of self-fulfilling prophecy. When a person believes that he or she is smarter or more talented than the rest of the world, they tend to become smarter, and more talented. And since beautiful people are told throughout their lives that they are special, they tend to grow up believing that they are special, which has a very positive effect on everything they do.
But what if you were not blessed with great looks. Is there anything you can do to be seen as more attractive? Absolutely!
There are certain things that all human beings find physically attractive. They include mood, symmetry, youth and health. You may not be able to turn back the hands of time, but you can accentuate the positive at any age. Here are three things you can do immediately to make yourself more attractive, more beautiful.
Smile
Nothing expresses happiness and beauty quicker than a genuine smile. A smile transcends time, age, culture, race, religion and politics. It is recognized worldwide and appreciated by everyone who receives one. When you smile, the whole world does smile at you.
There are people in this world who convey love and kindness and happiness with their natural, beautiful smile, and it has nothing to do with their teeth. My grandpa had one of those smiles and he was able to give it with and without his dentures. It was beautiful and so was he.
You don’t need teeth to project your likeability and beauty. Just offer a genuine, natural smile.
Clothing
Mark Twain once said, “Clothes make the man. Naked people don’t get a lot of respect in this world.” It’s as true today as it was 150 years ago. Clothes do make the man and woman.
What you wear and how you wear it has an enormous impact on how attractive you look to others. I’m not a style consultant nor do I pretend to be. I leave that to the expert, my wife. She has a keen eye for style and she’s not afraid to use it on me.
When you look good you feel good, and when you feel good you look good. This is the kind of vicious circle that’s fun to get caught up in.
It’s just as easy to put on fashionable clean clothes in the morning as it is to dress in clothes that don’t fit properly and are a few decades out of date. Make the right choice and feel good about yourself all day long.
Walk Like A Man … Or Woman
Have you ever watched yourself walk from a perspective other than your own? The only way you can do that is by watching yourself in a mirror or on a video. The results may surprise you.
The way you walk says a lot about you. It can project confidence, health and pride or something far different.
A few years ago we had a couple visiting us from Scandinavia. Borg told me that one of the things he noticed about Americans was how we walked. He said that Americans tend to walk at a quicker pace than the rest of the world and that we walk with purpose. More importantly, our walk indicated that we were optimistic people and that we could overcome any obstacle that got in our way.
What I found interesting about Borg’s opinion of Americans was that is was based on his interpretation of how we walk. According to Borg, there is something very attractive about someone who walks like an American.
Make a point to watch people walk and pay attention to how you feel about them based on that criteria alone. Then, do your best to imitate the walk you like best until it becomes a part of your presence, your personality and your style.
Maybe you wern’t born beautiful, but you can become beautiful with a few simple adjustments. Pay attention to these three suggestions and see if you don’t feel better about yourself and about how others feel about you in return. You are beautiful!
You cannot like someone you don’t know. More importantly, others cannot like you if they don’t know you exist. Somehow, someway a contact has to be made before anything happens. And if you don’t make the effort to make that contact, there’s a very good chance it’s not going to be made.
When I was a in college, I was elected social chairman for our fraternity. My primary job was to persuade the female population on campus to attend our parties. This was not an easy task. I belonged to an engineering fraternity where most of the boys were terrified to speak to girls, much less dance with them and carry on an interesting conversation.
Most people will not introduce themselves to a stranger because they don’t know what to say and they’re afraid of putting themselves in an awkward position. It doesn’t have to be that way. Here’s what I had the freshman do that made meeting the girls easy and fun.
People are going to let you down. They’re going to do and say hurtful things. Sometimes they’re going to say these things because they intentionally want to hurt you. Shame on them. Other times they’re going to say hurtful things to protect themselves. This is where things get a little weird and that’s the situation I want to address in this article.
What I’m about to share with you is an advanced likeability skill that only a handful of people are capable of pulling off. If you think you’re one of these people, keep reading.
Finally, I gathered the courage to take his phone call and listen to his proposal. Here’s what happened.
Everyone has a different set of strengths when it comes to projecting themselves to the world. Some are amazingly good looking, while others have a warm and compassionate telephone voice. Some are dynamic speakers and presenters while others express themselves through their writing and one-on-one conversations. If you want to create the most favorable first impression with a new customer, lead with your strength.
When I called the number she left on my answering machine and asked for Jill, the receptionist told me that Jill was not available, and asked if I would like to speak to another sales agent.
In order to make a positive first impression, you must lead with your strength. If you have a fantastic telephone voice, make a telephone call. If you’re a dynamite speaker, make sure they see you perform. If you’re an entertaining writer, send them your book, email them or direct them to your blog. If you’re charming and good-looking, meet them in person. Lead with your strength.
Behavioral psychologists have been bantering around the idea of what they call Repulsion Hypothesis for years. It states that people find people who have beliefs and attitudes that are extremely different from their own as repulsive.
Years ago I hired a professional speaker to teach customer service skills to my clients. He was an expert on the subject; he was funny and extremely effective. He was also very passionate about his religious belief and he didn’t mind sharing his views openly in his presentation.

I’m your customer and I want to you to know that I like you and I like doing business with you.
Propinquity. What a fun word. It means nearness: nearness in proximity, time, kinship, affinity and similarity. If you’re not careful, you’re going to find yourself over using this word, just like I do, in general conversation because it’s so much fun to say.

