Last week we suggested that most leaders make a lot of little presentations everyday as a natural part of their daily efforts.
We pointed to three key areas to do this effectively to build your Career Mastery.
The first one was: Presenting Yourself.
And the extreme version of this is meeting someone for the very first time – what do you say?
The obvious thing to say is: Hi…
Then, it’s likely we say our name… I’m Mike.
But, then what?
A popular suggestion is to have an elevator pitch –maybe if you are a door-to-door salesman, but you are introducing yourself not going for the sale of the century!
I believe the best thing you can say to someone when you meet them for the first time depends entirely on the context – you want to say something relevant to where you are meeting that person.
Even more important than what you say is how you say it.
You might have heard of the Mehrabian model.
Well, maybe not by name…
Anyway, Professor Albert Mehrabian did some research that suggested that our words are only 7% of our total communication. The rest is non-verbal with tone being 38% of the message and gestures being the remaining 55%.
Maybe that’s familiar now?
Unfortunately, this is not accurate. In particular, it’s not a general rule that you can apply to all communications.
Mehrabian’s research only applies to talking about your feelings.
In contrast, if you’re giving specific instructions for a task, these percentages clearly don’t apply – the words have a much higher value.
So what’s my point?
Don’t spend too much time on what to say when you meet people. Instead, focus on being present.
Showing up and presenting yourself is more than just the words it’s about creating a connection and building rapport.
If you want to improve your skills in this area you might like to consider the Influential Presenting program we’re running in January.
It’s a two-part (two whole days) program filled with lots of practice to help accelerate your career in 2019.
Click here for more details.
Mike