Albert Einstein is quoted as saying ‘Play is the highest form of research’. It doesn’t sound like serious business, does it? But it’s how children learn, and they take their play very seriously. Just try interrupting them to go to bed!
Do you put yourself under pressure to network properly, professionally? Do you lie awake dwelling on conversations; how you wish you could have been more eloquent, or sounded more educated or intelligent? It’s crushing isn’t it? Let it go!
Bring a spirit of adventure and play into your connecting. Look for different places to connect, not just in the workplace, but when you’re out and about in your daily life.
In the supermarket you might see a great pair of shoes or jacket you might comment on, or at the petrol station a cool motorbike or vehicle. When you ask people for the story behind something they’re connected with they might have a simple response, like ‘it’s just from the Mall’ or it might lead to something interesting such as ‘I got it from Italy’ and lead to a common connection or experience to share. In this instance, I haven’t been to Italy, but I can comment on how lovely it is to bring something special home from a trip, and perhaps mention somewhere I‘ve been.
Making a choice to be curious literally lights up your brain with new connections, opening you up to more possibilities. When you were younger you instinctively knew how to negotiate and lead others, explore and experiment with new ideas, create new ways of solving problems and to think outside the box: all through the art of play.
Playfulness can have a place in your professional life. Maybe you need to give yourself permission to be curious and to follow through on your curiosity. If we’re relaxed, friendly and curious, starting with a smile as expressed in the ASKING Model* you’ll find people will most often appreciate a conversation with you.
Kerrie Phipps, Georgia Lush and some of the participants at Connect With Confidence in Orange, March 2015
Sam Cawthorn, special guest Michael Grinder and (most of) the Institute For Professional Speakers team. Photo by www.azjackson.com.au
In my Connect with Confidence event recently with co-facilitator Georgia Lush, we took a deeper look into the ‘heart and science of connecting’ and the ASKING Model as shared in DO Talk To Strangers – How to Connect with Anyone, Anywhere.
…then a few days later I was in Sydney at the Institute for Professional Speakers’ Bootcamp where a safe space for attendees to explore their thinking and develop their message and presentation skills made way for extraordinary breakthroughs in confidence and clarity. This is what it’s all about!
Want to delve into this a little more?
1. Get out and connect with someone new this week – starting with looking to make eye contact and smile at people as you pass by. Say hello if there’s time. We all appreciate being acknowledged with a smile.
2. Read more in Do Talk To Strangers in the Right People, Right Place, Right Attitude model (from page 87) and find your sweet spot more often than you realise is possible. Also, there’s more in the Networking Events section, beginning on page 127.
Here’s a little feedback from recent events:
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yL5p6d_AFdI[/youtube]
Yvette Aubusson Foley in Orange, following the Connect With Confidence event, and Mags Bell in Sydney at the Institute For Professional Speakers…
We’d love to hear from you too! (It doesn’t need to be a video!) Connect on facebook in the Do Talk To Strangers group where you can share your connecting stories, ask questions, and discover what readers of the book are up to in their Talking To Strangers adventures :)
Cheering you on,
Love Kerrie
PS. I have a few exciting interviews coming up and Difference-Making news, so stay tuned, and as always, you’re welcome to connect with coments, questions, feedback – Contact me here or on social media! Also – if you’d like me to send you the pdf of the first part of Do Talk To Strangers, I’d be happy to share!
