avatarMaryna Kalaur

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Reminding Yourself Is the Key to Success

Inspired by book ‘Never Eat Alone’ by Keith Ferrazzi

Make connections | Photo by krakenimages on Unsplash

This is the continuing… The first part of the article is Why Communication is The Key to Success?

Seeking attention and reminding yourself is the key to success in any field.

To make sure that a new acquaintance remembers your name (and the pleasant impression you make on them), you need to remind yourself as soon as you meet them. Make it a habit within a day or two of meeting this person to get in contact with that person again. After a casual acquaintance to inform the person, ‘It was a pleasure to meet you.’

I personally tried it on the next days I read it. I met 2 new people in the next days. I started to follow them on social media and wrote the message in the first day after I met them. One of the girl answered, and even sent a message to me first after 1 week. Another girl answered on the same day, but after that we didn’t have a conversation. Maybe I will write to her again, interesting to discover the reaction.

At the same time, remember — and this is very important — that you cannot remind the person what he can do for you; rather, always emphasize what you can do for him. Only then will he be willing to continue communicating with you.

How do you get the right to speak at a conference?

First of all, you must have something to say. Your presentation must be informative. You should talk about the specifics of the case you are working on. The topic of your talk should be specific to each particular audience.

☞ If you’ve taken the first step and also met the conference organizers, it’s not so hard to get access to a microphone anymore. It’s best to start small.

For some people, there is nothing more frightening than giving a fifteen-minute speech, even in front of a reasonably well-meaning audience (e.g., their family or friends).

Organize a conference within a conference

This is a big idea from the book. When a discussion is announced during meetings and there is an opportunity to ask questions, try to be the first to raise your hand. A well-worded, intelligent question is a chance for the audience to notice you.

🎙️ Be sure to introduce yourself, say what company you work for, what you do, and then ask a question that will interest the audience. Ideally, the question should relate to your area of expertise so you can keep the conversation on topic.

Often organizing your own forum within a conference is the best way to ensure that all the people you set out to talk to get together at the same time and in the same place. Ideally, the invitees should include the keynote speakers at the conference. This will draw the attention of everyone else to your person. Even a complete stranger will be the center of attention after famous people share their impressions of their time together.

Photo by Evangeline Shaw on Unsplash

Often the most important favors are done for us by people we consider mere acquaintances

Your mom was wrong after all, instilling in you that you shouldn’t talk to strangers. The result of Granovetter’s research is the winged expression ‘the power of weak ties’. Its meaning is that when it comes to getting a job (or new information, for example), ‘weak’ ties tend to be more important than ‘strong’ ones.

Malcolm Gladwell writes: “Thus, fairly distant acquaintances are a powerful social force, and the more of them you have, the stronger you are.” Throughout this book, the author emphasize the idea that the most important thing is to create deep and trusting relationships rather than making superficial contacts.

Why is this happening❓

💭 Think about it. Many of your closest friends attend the same parties you do, go to the same office with you at work, that is, they live in the same world as you. Therefore, they rarely have information that is new to you.

🤔 On the other hand, your ‘weak’ connections usually live in a completely different world. They socialize with other people who have knowledge and information that is not available to you and your close friends.

Our vast world is actually quite small.

It is Milgram who is credited with the authorship of the concept of ‘six degrees of connection’. It indicates that if you want to build an effective network of connections, it’s best to get to know the few people with extensive connections. Such people can be found among any profession, but the author — Keith — likes to focus on just seven of them, where the concentration of people with extensive connections is highest:

  1. Restaurant owners
  2. Headhunters
  3. Lobbyists
  4. Individuals securing funding for community projects
  5. Public Relations Professionals
  6. Politicians
  7. Journalists

These are the seven professions that seem tailor-made for the master networker. Meet some of their representatives. And there are others — lawyers, brokers and so on. Join their circle of acquaintances and become part of their lives. Get out of your familiar surroundings. Hunt for people who look and act differently than you do, draw ideas from them.

In other words, make connections yourself and take an example from the masters of the craft. 🔐

Never forget the person who opened the doors to a new world before you

Each of the contacts becomes a necessary link in the whole network, a key that opens doors to new worlds in front of you. Through its facilitation, you can get to know dozens or even hundreds of people. There are two basic rules to follow:

  1. The person with whom you share your circle of connections should be seen by you as a partner with whom the relationship is based on mutual benefit.
  2. You must trust your partner, because ultimately you are vouching for him and his behavior towards your friends reflects on you as well.

❗️And one more caution. Never give anyone full access to your contact list. It’s your property, and no one has the right to use it as they please.

If you like to read my articles, you can find more on my profile. I will be happy to see you here again. Thank you for reading! 🔅

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