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Creepy Communication: Use This Checklist to Be Professional

Creepy Communication: Essential Changes to Be Professional Image via LockandStock Photos.

Image via LockandStockPhotos.

Creepy Communication: Don’t Make These Mistakes!

What first impression do you make in your professional life? It takes less than 30 seconds to make an impression and have it stick. In addition to your attire and non-verbal gestures, the words you use linger. It’s important to remember that words you can use in a personal setting are not always appropriate for your professional interactions.

Examples Checklist:

• References to underwear. Professional business settings are not the place to discuss underwear or use it as an analogy. There is a humility quote that continues to circulate on Twitter: “Humility is like underwear, essential, but indecent if it shows.” ~Helen Nielsen. Although a powerful image about humility, quoting it in an interview or on your new job wouldn’t be a great first impression. Avoid words that give the impression of creepy communication.




Choose better words to make a better first impression. #peopleskills #career
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• References to unzipping yourself. Years back I attended a public professional development seminar. Early on the seminar leader referred to making mistakes and failure as unzipping himself. He even pantomimed it over and over. His choice of words and gestures were contrary to the audience and topic of professional development. Since I didn’t find him credible, I left.




Choose words and analogies that match the setting and audience. #peopleskills #professional
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• Pressing your intuition. Intuition is very valuable. If you have strong intuition you can be very helpful to others IF you don’t come across as presumptuous. In a professional setting, telling people you know them better than they know themselves can earn you the label of arrogant and/or creepy. Avoid the creepy communication label. Use your intuition wisely without invading people’s identity.




• Making suggestive remarks about others’ appearance. As you attempt to build positive relationships with your colleagues, be careful of compliments about their appearance. Saying to someone, “you look great today”, can be fine. Saying it with a suggestive tone of voice can be creepy. Saying “that outfit makes you look sexy, alluring, etc…” is definitely not wise. Save those remarks for your personal friends.

What do you want your professional image to be? What do you want people to say about you? Think about it and let it guide how you speak and interact with others.

Related Posts:
11 Steps to Be Authentic Without Scaring People Away
Bluntness Bombs Out For 6 Logical Reasons

©2015 Kate Nasser, CAS, Inc. Somerville, NJ. I appreciate your sharing the link to this post on your social streams. However, if you want to re-post or republish the content of this post, please email info@katenasser.com for permission and guidelines. Thank you for respecting intellectual capital.

Kate Nasser, The People Skills Coach™, delivers coaching, consulting, training, and keynotes on leading change, employee engagement, teamwork, and delivering the ultimate customer service. She turns interaction obstacles into interpersonal success. See this site for workshop outlines, keynote footage, and customer results.

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Tags: business, Career, communication, interpersonal skills, Leadership, management, people skills, professional, professional development, professional speaker, Soft Skills, workplace