The process of connecting with people is made up of a lot of moving parts. The initial meeting is your chance to be memorable and can lay the ground work for a next meeting or perhaps a long-term relationship. Shaking hands, a smile, the business card exchange. Then conversation. What to say? Where is this […]
Storytelling: A Secret Ingredient in Effective Networking Read More »
We all need balance. Whether it is in our home life or our business pursuits, balance and order help us meet our goals, see the good in things and keep us happy. But it is also a strategic thinking to look for balance. Recently, I attended the NAAAP-Dallas’ WIN Conference and heard Kathryn Collins speak
Striking a Balance Read More »
At a seminar the other day on technology and productivity we discussed a number of applications (apps), tools and techniques and technologies that can enhance your life and build your business. Michael St. Martin of Cognoscape was an engaging speaker and gave us many useful ideas. He presented a “day in the life” scenario of
Connecting with Real People Read More »
You’ve prepared and analyzed, written and read and composed and rehearsed. You walk into the room ready for a solid,clear discussion The discussion begins and goes in a completely different direction. Did you see this coming? Can you flex with it? It has happened to all of us at one time or another: the misread
Reading Situations Read More »
Recently a friend reminded me of a scene she encountered on an evening out that got her to thinking about conversation and relationships. We call the story the canoe conversation. She was out to dinner by herself and she and an older couple were the only patrons in this Northwest-themed restaurant. Hanging from the ceiling
The Canoe Conversation Read More »
We spend a lot of time in conversations and in electronic communications. Sometimes we lose the thread of who were are and our ideals. Have confidence and be positive. Be your brand with no apologies. This came up after seeing the movie “The Help.” A repetitive theme and scene in the story is when the
Remember Who You Are Read More »
To be an effective networker you need to be armed with stories. Stories help you connect and make points with your fellow networkers so that they can relate to you and you to them. Stories have a beginning, a middle and an end. But they also need to be relevant to who you are talking
Five Things to Remember in Networking: Storytelling Read More »
Networking isn’t just for sales or to be done outside the walls of a company. I had a lesson in what it can (or can’t) do recently. At, of all places, my car dealer. My recently purchased car was due for its first oil change. All was going well until the service manager came to
Intra-Company Networking Read More »
Many companies make the statement “our people are our most important asset.” And then treat them as disposable parts and pieces. While a business must run in the black, saying one thing and doing another is the issue at hand. As it is in networking as well. Over the past number of weeks I have
Really Valuing People Read More »
With the death this past week of Peter Falk, one of his obituaries read like a primer on networking. Best known as Columbo, Mr. Falk was eulogized by Associate Press Writer Frazier Moore. In his story Mr. Moore points out not just the usual “born-lived-died” facts, but he talks about the essence of the characters
