Dear Rookie,
If you’re eating before a big presentation, do yourself (and everyone else) a favor—check your teeth. A killer presentation won’t matter if your audience is fixated on that last grain of rice clinging to your front tooth like it’s holding on for dear life. And yeah, a mouth freshener helps.
Same goes for your general appearance—maybe don’t stumble in last minute, out of breath like you just ran from airport security. Take a deep breath, collect yourself, and walk in like you belong there. It makes a difference.
First impressions start in nanoseconds. For me, it’s a big smile (unless it’s a crisis meeting—then I go for ‘calm and in control’).