Did I ever tell you about the time I….
I’m a PhD in…and I spent years traveling the world…. Whatever?
Whatever is what people think when we are not talking about them and talking about ourself. They really don’t care. And so, why aren’t we talking about them? Their life and their ambitions, etc.
Balance in a conversation is important so I’m not going to give a ratio (like listen 80% and talk 20%) because we always know when the conversation is stuck in neutral. Body language and eye contact says it all. We know when we click with the other individual. Watch and listen.
Sure, we can enjoy someone who is outgoing and runs their mouth off every time we talk to them but at some point do we really take them seriously? Do they start to become less and less interesting to us?
We start to interrupt their comments to tell them something profound–don’t. Why are we trying to impress this person anyway? People like to be around other people who don’t make them feel small and unimportant. When we talk about our money, power, and position people can get jealous so why do it. If we make a big thing out of ourself then people will hope we crash and burn.
We notice this in politicians all the time. Some politicians connect because they talk about other people and solving their problems. I care about you. Other politicians talk about themselves. What I’ve done, what I’ve become, where I’ve been, and why I’m so great. Obviously, you will want to vote for me. They never figure out how to connect with people and people think they have a big ego even if they feel they are smart.
If someone is trying to make us feel small we may need to run (not walk) to the nearest exit. That may include our JOB. Life’s to short to be around jerks and that’s why we are in Network Marketing. We have met some jerks in the business but mostly we have met some great people.
