Introductions are a great opportunity we often waste.
Opportunity: to give a vivid picture of who you are and what you do
Waste: not really communicating what you do and what you have to offer
What exactly do I mean? Here’s an example.
Stranger 1: Hi. I’m Shannon Lee.
Stranger 2: Hi. I’m Doug Forester. What do you do?
1: I’m a lawyer.
2: (Eyes glazed over.) Oh, that’s nice. There seem to be a lot of lawyers here tonight. I’m an engineer.
1: (No idea what Doug does all day) Oh. So, is this the first time you’ve come to this event?
Even though these two people told each other the basics, by resorting to labels, they didn’t communicate anything interesting about themselves and they missed an opportunity to connect on a deeper level or even to just have an interesting conversation. So what should they have done?
Stranger 1: Hi. I’m Shannon. Shannon Lee. (Repeating your first name will help the other person remember it better and will slow you down so that you speak more clearly.)
Stranger 2: Hi. I’m Doug Forester. What do you do?
1: I’m a lawyer. I work with people seeking asylum in the United States. In fact, just today, I learned that a woman from Peru that I’d been working with was granted asylum. Now she’ll be safe from her abusive husband who tried to kill her. (This time Shannon provided a short anecdote to create a picture and gave Doug more info that he can use to continue the conversation.)
2: Wow. That’s intense. How did you get involved in that type of work? (Hopefully they’ll go on to have an interesting conversation, about asylum cases, immigration, Peru or Latin America, domestic violence, politics, local related events, Shannon’s career path or anything else suggested by her anecdote.)
Maybe you’re not saving lives every day like Shannon, but that doesn’t mean your description of what you do for most of your waking hours has to be boring. In fact it shouldn’t be. You can always add an anecdote that will highlight your skills and competency. If you work in an office, tell how you solved a problem and what effect that had on people. If you work directly with people, you must have a million stories about daily interactions. Just remember to keep the focus positive and don’t tell stories that put other people in a negative light.
It can be hard to break out of the mold, when everyone else is doing the my name, my label routine, but it’s worth it.
NICOLE: Bless you for this wonderful idea. I’m inherently shy – and despite an extreme passion for my topic area, I often find myself struggling at networking events with how to get a conversation going when I meet someone new. I’m going to keep practicing the below until if feels as comfortable as a glove!
—————————————-
“Hi! I’m Manisha. Manisha Thakor. I’m a personal finance expert who focuses on women. Did you know that for 2/3rds of women over the age of 65 in American right now – meager Social Security payments of roughly $1,000 a month are their primary source of income? In other words, after a lifetime of hard work, they are literally struggling to buy food and essential medicines in their golden years. My motto is “Cash Creates Choices,” and I want to help future generations of women live their lives from a position of financial strength.”
Hi Manisha, that’s great! I’m glad the post was helpful. Just a suggestion: Your introduction has a lot of great information in it. But remember that people connect to people — in other words, we all like a good story. Is there someone you recently worked with who will NOT be struggling on social security because of you? Someone who got your message “Cash Creates Choices” and used it to change their life? Can you work them into your introduction so that the person you’re talking to can see the movie of your life — and theirs — as you talk?
NICOLE: Oooh – you are so right. How’s something like this…
“Hi! I’m Manisha. Manisha Thakor. I’m a personal finance expert who focuses on women. In the past week I helped one woman understand how much house she could comfortable afford to buy and another woman understand what financial factors to mull over when considering graduate school. My motto is “Cash Creates Choices,” and I want to help all women learn to live the lives that make their hearts sing.
YES! You totally have the movie of these women’s lives playing in my head now and I can picture exactly how you helped them and how you could help me. Awesome introduction, Manisha.