Fits your personality? Paul again parroted. You know, maybe I need
something a little more sporty. A little more sporty? Paul parroted. Well,
those cars over there look a little more sporty. Aha! Pauls parrot had
ferreted out which cars to show the customer. As they walked over toward a
Lamborghini on the lot, Paul saw the prospects eyes light up. An hour later,
Paul had pocketed a fat commission.
Want to take a rest from talking to save your throat? This next technique
gets your conversation partner off and running so all you have to do is listen
(or even sneak off unnoticed as he or she chats congenially away).
How to Get Em Happily Chatting (So You Can Slip Away if You Want
To!)
Every father smiles when his little tyke beseeches him at bedtime,
Daddy, Daddy, tell me the story again of the three little pigs (or the dancing
princesses or how you and Mommy met). Daddy knows Junior enjoyed the
story so much the first time, he wants to hear it again and again.
Junior inspires the following technique called Encore! which serves two
purposes. Encore! makes a colleague feel like a hapy dad, and its a great
way to give dying conversation a heart transplant.
I once worked on a ship that had Italian officers and mostly American
passengers. Each week, the deck officers were required to attend the
captains cocktail party. After the captains address in charmingly broken
English, the officers invariably clumped together yakking it up in Italian.
Needless to say, most of the pasengers grasp of Italian ended at macaroni,
spaghetti, salami, and pizza.
As cruise director, it fell on my shoulders to get the officers to mingle
with the passengers. My not-so-subtle tactic was to grab one of the officers
arms and literally drag him over to a smiling throng of expectant
passengers. I would then introduce the offcer and pray that either the cat
would release his tongue, or a pasHow to Get Em Happily Chatting (So You
Can Slip Away if You Want To!) 83
senger would come up with a more original question than Gee, if all you
officers are here, who is driving the boat? Never hapened. I dreaded the
weekly captains cocktail party.
One night, sleeping in my cabin, I was awakened by the ship rocking
violently from side to side. I listened and the engines were off. A bad sign. I
grabbed my robe and raced up to the deck. Through the dense fog, I could
barely discern another ship not half a mile from us. Five or six officers were
ooja
(Ooja)
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