Your ability to establish positive and productive relationships in the business world is key to your success. The self-confidence you convey while speaking contributes greatly to how others view you. In addition, your ability to easily carry on a conversation or “small talk” tells others you are comfortable interacting in less formal settings. Confident interactions are tremendously valuable in establishing your personal and professional presence. The key to building rapport is to find a common topic that will put both you and the other person at ease. At a meeting, the rapport-building segment should be brief. At parties and receptions, it is ongoing.
The Roman philosopher Seneca and Oprah Winfrey have both been quoted as saying: “Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity.” There’s no getting around it, preparation is crucial if you want to achieve success in life.
I cringe when a client insists they are better when they wing it - better for them maybe but not for their audience. Time and time again we have seen what a difference preparation makes in the delivery of a presentation. A client comes in “winging it” and practically bores the audience to tears and then after putting some easy, effective techniques into play delivers his or her message again as a seasoned professional. But while we can prepare for many things, can we prepare for everything? How is that even possible? The word credibility comes from the Latin root word credere, which means to believe or to entrust. We give credence (belief) to ideas when we accept them to be true. When you have credibility, people believe in you and they trust you. Your credibility is decided upon by other peoples’ perceptions of you and what they observe about you. The interesting thing is, if other people don’t perceive credibility in you - you will not be credible in their eyes. However, you can influence another persons’ belief in you.
Whether you call it manners, etiquette or common consideration for your fellow human beings, it appears it needs to be reinforced in today’s business environment. We hear so much about how to conduct ourselves in business and yet we don’t realize that our actions are speaking louder than our words when it comes to how we conduct ourselves with others. We have become so tied to our cell phones, tablets and computers that they have literally become the focal point of our world—at times appearing more important than the people we are physically with or around.
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