The holiday season is here, how are you feeling about all of these get-togethers and parties?
Are you excited to mingle, or are you excited for it to be over with already? Either way, I hope you get invited to some great events and have many options for some social time.
It’s been a crazy few weeks for me as I have been traveling as well as having my girlfriend move in and we still managed to hit one of my best friend’s holiday party, and it was really fun. My buddy has a sweet apartment overlooking the SF Bay and as we walked in the apartment I said a couple of hello’s to people I knew and to some I didn’t.
But what happened next made me feel great.
I saw my buddy and he gave me a warm hug and a loud hello and we all poured ourselves a drink from the rum concoction he made in a glass jug. It was delicious.
He introduced my girlfriend and me to a group of his friends who I didn’t know.
A minute or two later one of the women said loudly, “OHH this is the Eric I heard about.” We all laughed and exchanged some fun stories and the night really took off from there.
How do you think that would make you feel?
A stranger being a bit excited and wowed at meeting you… in front of everyone.
Damn good, that’s how!
So why and how did this happen?
Well, my friend is a great storyteller. In fact I think he is better than me. But he knew I was coming to the party and threaded me in some of his stories and conversations he was having before I arrived, and maybe even in some prior interactions with that person in the past.
Something we emphasize in our social skills courses at Jaunty is raising other people’s status.
One way of doing this is speaking highly of someone by using examples, compliments or opinions.
So here is the point:
If you have friends, or family or co-workers who you spend a lot of time with, recognize that there is a high chance that newer people that you meet, or other important people that you have in your life will probably meet them at some point. So talk them up subtly, this is a very charismatic thing you can do with your conversational skills.
When they do finally meet in the future you have set up a really cool dynamic. Also, if your friends have brought up and spoke about someone you have not met yet, and you finally meet at some point give them the gift of, “OHHHH so this is the Eric!” They will never forget it.
