Afropolitain Tips: One Chance to Make a First Impression

Mastering the introduction
Ask today’s Afropolitains “Where they are from”? and you’ll likely get multidimensional answers. Some were born in Paris, grew up in New York and relocated to Dakar. Others are doing business in Chicago but were raised in London by parents who came from Lagos. Introducing oneself is a rare opportunity to control your narrative in a world that has often already stereotyped you.

Demonstrating value
You’re often invited to the table for what you bring to it, whether brawns, brains, beauty or a mix of all three. It’s important for an Afropolitain who wants to be taken seriously to communicate their value early on to any new community they encounter. Branding oneself early, is the name of the game. (Note that communicating, can be done without words). Besides, people will attribute a value to you whether you like it or not, why not have a say in it?

Listen and Repeat
Everyone wants to be heard. When you repeat someone’s words back to them, it allows you to register what the person is saying while endearing them to you, you are letting them know that their opinion matters. Letting a person know they’re being heard encourages the conversation to go to substantive levels. Repeating another person’s word’s is a form of empathy which can go a long way in deepening the relationships within your network.

Vibe : Ambiance
The law of gravity stipulates that all bodies of mass exert a gravitational pull on each other. In terms of people, we can consider ambiance to be the gravitational force that pulls people together. That gravitational pull is a sort of vibe that a person gives off. Just know that the ambiance is a product of collective vibes that are intrinsic in nature. A person emits what they feel inside. Their nature affects their environment by way of their vibe. So be conscious of the vibe you create, join and attract. In a way, your network reflects the vibe you’ve created around you.