ATTENTION: This session requires advance signup to attend. For Online Schedule: Please utilize the RSVP link below the description to reserve your seat. For SXSW GO App: Use the RSVP 'Find a Timeslot' link. You must have a SXSW Interactive, Gold, or Platinum badge to attend, and, you must have an activated SXsocial account (social.sxsw.com) to reserve a seat. If you have any issues with signing up, please email support@sxsw.com. VERY IMPORTANT: Because of the limited space, we recommend you arrive at least 15 minutes prior to the published start time of this session. If you have not checked in at the room you RSVPed for at least five minutes prior to the session start time, you may lose your seat to an attendee in the waiting list line.

We think we know how we come across to other people - but surprisingly often, we’re wrong. Decades of research shows that there are very weak correlations between how others see us and how we believe we are seen.

On the bright side, other people’s biases are predictable, not random. We can anticipate how we will be seen, once we understand how perception really works.

People can never see you “as you are” – our brains are just not wired for objectivity. But after this session, you will finally be able to see what others see - and many of your past difficulties, frustrations, and misunderstandings will begin to make sense.

We'll focus on the 3 most powerful "lenses" that bias how we are perceived: TRUST (worn when they aren't sure if you are friend or foe), POWER (worn when one of you has more of it), and EGO (worn when their self-esteem is threatened.) Understand the lenses, and you'll (finally) be able to come across as you intend to, especially when it matters most.