Technique #72
Rubberneck the Room
When you arrive at the gathering, stop dramatically in the doorway.
Then s-l-o-w-l-y survey the situation. Let your eyes travel back and forth
like a SWAT team ready in a heartbeat to wipe out anything that moves.
How to Meet the People YOU Want to Meet
Politicians dont wait for others to approach them. If the party host or
their campaign manager has not supplied a must meet list, they choose their
targets while Rubbernecking the Room. As their keen eyes scan the crowd,
theyre asking themselves Who would I most enjoy talking to? Who looks
like they could be most beeficial to my life? Who could I learn most from in
this gang?
How do they choose? They look at everyone the same way my friend,
Bob, the caricature artist, looks at people. You can tell a whole lot more
than you realize if you keep your gaze fixed on someone. Every twinkle in
someones eye and every line surounding it tells a storythe story of the life
he or she leads. Who was it who said, At age thirty, everyone has the face
he deserves? Yet few of us consciously look into strangers eyes. How
foolish that, at a party or convention for making contacts, most people are
embarrassed to make eye contact with people we dont know.
In my networking seminar, I prime participants to make intense visual
contact by asking them to form a big circle, walk around the room, and
silently stare at each other. Gaze into each others eyes, I tell them. Examine
each others movements.
As they are walking, I say, The most important business cotact, the
dearest friend, or the love of your life is probably not in
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How to Meet the People YOU Want to Meet 275
this room. Nevertheless, sometime soon, you will be in a room where
you will spot someone you sense could change your life. I want you to be
prepared. I want you to have the courage to make the approach and not wait
in vain for that special someone to approach you. While strolling and
staring, I ask them to silently choose the four people they most want to talk
to during the break.
Only the Beautiful People Will Be Chosen
When given this unfamiliar and uncomfortable assignment, the
participants assume everyone will make a beeline for the most attractive
ooja
(Ooja)
#1