Summary: In this podcast, Susan wants listeners to understand that technology should enhance networking, not replace face to face meetings. She shares the value of small talk, and how to use it to become a “talk target”. To download this podcast, click hereSusan discusses how in a technology driven world, face to face communication has taken a backseat to cell phones, email, and text messaging. Technology makes our lives easier because of its instantaneous nature – you don’t have to worry about interrupting people and it makes international communications inexpensive, easy, and fast. However, technology works best as a follow up tool, after you have met someone in person. Meeting people face to face allows for small talk, where real relationships and friendships are made. Susan stresses the importance of small talk in her book How to Work a Room. Small talk allows people to find things they have in common with one another and start building a rapport. She also defines a “talk target”, someone who makes us feel like we are good conversationalists. They are always in the midst of a group and seem to bring the best out of everyone by making people feel relaxed and at ease. Susan suggests that it isn’t what you say, but how you make people feel when you say it. Her five tips to become a talk target is to (1) be a conversation chameleon by adjusting your conversation to people by age, interests, jobs, or career; (2) be a name dropper whether it be a person, a school, a subject, or a restaurant to help connect with people and further the conversation; (3) spiral other people’s lives by using friends’ stories to relate with people; (4) give people a second chance, (5) be nice to everyone; and as a bonus, always follow up after meeting people. Susan RoAne leads a double life as a bestselling author and a sought-after keynote speaker. Known as “The Mingling Maven,” she gives her multi-generational audiences the required tools, techniques and strategies they need to connect and communicate in todays global business world. Her practical, informative, and interactive presentations are known for what The San Francisco Chronicle calls her dynamite sense of humor.Because of her groundbreaking best-seller, How to Work a Room, Susan is considered the undisputed and original networking and conversation expert. It has sold over a million books worldwide and has launched an industry that she continues to create and shape in the 21st Century. She also wrote The Secrets of Savvy Networking , What Do I Say Next?, and her new book is Face To Face: How To Reclaim The Personal Touch in A Digital World. www.susanroane.com Like this podcast, why not share it?
