Saint or sinner? Here's how the 'halo effect' puts the glow on you.

The halo effect: it's something that's working on us all the time. Curious? You should be. It can make all the difference between getting a job, closing a sale or getting a new customer. You've probably heard of it before, so how does it work?

Edward Thorndyke come up with the catchy name. He was a psychologist who used it in a study during 1920. He looked at how army officers rated the soldiers serving with them. The halo effect describes his findings: officers normally assessed their men as being either good, or bad, right across the board. If the officer had a good experience of a soldier in one area then the assumption was made that the soldier would be good at other tasks too.  

Obviously, this is good news for anyone who takes the time to make a good first impression. Whether people are looking at your hair, your manners or your website wording they will be making judgements in line with the halo effect. If they perceive that you are able to take good care of your stuff at this level, the halo effect leads them to cast the same favourable glow over the rest of you and all you do. 

​Unfortunately, there is a forked tail just around the corner. If people perceive you as not performing well in one area, then they will spread this poor rating across your life just as quickly as they would spread the glow. Bucking a negative halo effect judgement takes time and energy. Let's face it, few of us have spare amounts of either to turn someone's opinion around once it's been established. 

So, the best thing we can do is to hop on board the concept and aim for a shiny halo from the get go. When it comes to how you communicate, you can do this in several ways:

1. If you're in business, make sure your company wording shines (error free, correct grammar, clear, concise and compelling).
2. Think carefully about your online image. How likely is it to add to the glow?
3. If you have a CV, polish up the layout,  grammar and spelling. Make sure it gets you selected, not rejected.
4. When writing blogs, always take the time to make sure that your off-the-cuff styling isn't leaving you exposed (you'll not be the first to regret putting 'pubic' when you meant 'public').
5. Get your elevator pitch to the point that you could deliver it while wearing a leopardskin jumpsuit and dangling upside down from a helicopter. That would give anyone a glow.
6. Finally, remember all those things your granny used to say about your hair, nails, clothes and shoes? Well, unless you're in business as a modern-day-pagan compost provider, she was right.

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