One of the best pieces of advice I was given was to aim to get people first saying, “Me too,” not “So what?” when interacting and networking.
The goal is to first find what you have in common with someone and then build on that. Stay away from going right into what you do and your credentials even if someone asks.
For example, someone says to me, “So, what do you do?”
Well, I have a few options.
First, I could say, “I’m a headshot photographer and I shoot for business people and actors downtown.”
Or another options would be, “I run the top Yelp-rated headshot photography studio in all of New York.” That would just make me sound obnoxious.
or
Third I could respond with, “Well, have you ever found that people usually don’t like the way they look on-camera? I used to hate pictures of myself, especially when using them online professionally. My issue was that I thought I looked way too young.
“As someone with a photography background, I got interested in focusing on that. So now I shoot headshots and portraits of people, and actually use the shoot itself to show my clients how they can actually look great on camera with the right expression, angles, and lighting. It’s really fun and I love meeting new people each day.”
Notice how in the third example I connected with them by getting them thinking, “Yes, me too!” And I was able to relate it directly to my business.
They’ll be much more likely to remember the third example I used instead of the other two, and on top of making my message memorable, I’ve also showed them my Unique Selling Point, which is what makes me different than most other headshot photographers.
Remember, as we learned from Rachel a few weeks ago, it only takes seven seconds to make a first impression. you can apply this technique to the beginning of one to one interactions or even speaking engagements to get your audience on your side so they are open to hearing and remembering your message.
