Years ago I worked in a financial services organisation where it seemed that everyone but the CEO and me knew the rules of the introduction game. Thanks to Paul and some friendly Business Development Managers, I’ve learned the rules and in recent work with an organisation, we developed a model for Introductions, because surprisingly, I’m not the only one who missed out on this learning.
Rules of the Introduction Game:
1. Be prepared to Make the first Move
2. Ask Curiosity Questions
3. Listen for what is Important
4. Move on Graciously
This is what I’ve learned over the years:
Be prepared with a smile and a comment to ‘Make the first Move’. It’s amazing how many senior people are not initiators of conversations.
Have ‘Curiosity Questions’ to keep the conversation going. Paul learned the FORM acronym for questioning, which we amended to FORA: Family, Occupation, Recreation, (Money) / Aspirations.
Listen for ‘What’s Important’ to them and acknowledge / express a commonality where you can.
Finally, develop a ‘Moving On’ phrase that allows you or them to move on graciously and ideally link it to something they’ve said, to show you were listening.
Eg.
“Hello I’m Sharon McGann from A Passion for Results, I see from your name tag you’re from XA. Excuse my ignorance, what do they do?
What do you like best about your role there?
What do you do outside of work? Grown up family – me too – well she thinks she’s grown up.
What brought you to this seminar today?
Good talking to you and trust you find some pearls of wisdom from the guest presenter.”