A strong introduction is one of the keys to successfully introducing yourself to a colleague. It’s my hope to shift mindsets from believing it’s unimportant to the belief that it’s a critical behavior to embrace in today’s fast-paced and frenetic organizations.
A lot of networking literature refers to a concept called the “30-second commercial.” This commercial is your “30 seconds of fame,” an opportunity to tell new colleagues who you are and what you do. A reminder that the focus of Raise Your Visibility & Value is on employed business professionals. Subsequently, you don’t need to focus a lot of your attention and effort on creating, memorizing, and speaking like a commercial. Skip the commercial and introduce yourself with simplicity and authenticity – your colleagues will appreciate it.
A strong introduction is comprised of two main activities.
1. Introduce yourself. You don’t need a different way of introducing yourself for every situation, so create a simple way of introducing yourself that works most of the time. By creating a simple way of introducing yourself, you are also able to practice, build your skill set, and grow your confidence.
2. Engage in small talk. Most introductions also require some degree of small talk in order to avoid awkward silences. Small talk does not need to be profound or moving. If it were, we would not call it “small” talk. Small talk is designed to create a bridge between your introduction and your strong finish. For many of you, engaging in small talk is the most painful step in this model. I can tell you that the smoothest way to create small talk is to ask questions. If you fertilize a new interaction with questions, a conversation will be born.
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Have you listened to Ed’s new podcast called Be Brave @ Work? It’s all about saying what needs to be said and doing what needs to be done. Listen here!
Ed’s book Raise Your Visibility & Value: Uncover the Lost Art of Connecting on the Job is available here!
