Today’s blog is by guest contributor Mona Reiser who brings many years of Supply Chain, Customer Service, Consulting Experience and Entrepreneurship.
Starting up a conversation! Breaking the ice! Walking into a room full of people you have never met! That dreadful moment! For some, it is so very easy and natural. But then for others, including me, it has taken more than 40 years to find that elusive “trick” to starting a conversation with a total stranger. No it did not come from the myriad of self-help books, articles or suggestions that came my way.
I started out by faking my way into many a conversation; looking for that one familiar face in the crowd to help me break the ice and introduce me to a couple of folks. I would meet up with a couple of folks in the crowd and pretty much stay with them the rest of the night. Does this sound familiar to any of you? This form of shyness did not prevent me from rising thru the corporate ladder, but it did not come naturally and I had to really work at it. No matter how old the adage is, advancement comes thru the skills of communications, networking, connections and performance.
So what’s the trick, you ask? Skip past the obvious icebreakers like the weather or other headline of the day. Go for the common denominator. Most recently, at the beach in Florida “Hey love the music playing, is that your own playlist?” Within 10 mins, I found out that ‘music man’ owned a company that leased the souped up buses that music stars ride in. Oh, and the playlist was Pandora’s Steely Dan. The trick comes down to observing a stranger and when eye contact is made, ask or comment away! You would be surprised who you will meet and what you can learn when you hear their story. (Another small trick is to have an old fashioned business card to hand out if you wish to continue with this possible contact.)
I have really worked this simple trick over the past 6 months and have collected a multitude of business cards in turn for my next venture. Everyone has a story to tell. Don’t be afraid to break the ice to start up a conversation which may teach you something new or allow you to make a new contact for future networking.