Networking: When It’s OK to Lie
I know the ten commandments suggest not to, but sometimes, thou SHALT lie:
If you’re on a night out, your friend asks whether her hair looks weird – and it does, and there’s nothing she can do about it right now, tell her no. If your brother was right in the middle of an important interview and accidentally let out a massive (and noisy) fart, then he asks you – mortified – if you think the interviewers laughed at him after he left, say, “They probably don’t even remember”.
If you’ve been paying attention, you’ll know that I’m usually all about not lying – not being a fake, schmoozy, gross caricature of everything people hate about networking.
But sometimes: you need to. Here are those times:
(1) When extracting yourself from…
How To Deal With Boring Conversations
I grabbed the stranger by her shoulders and she stopped talking, mid-sentence – shocked.
“Dude,” I lowered my voice, and looked straight in her eyes. “What. Makes you think. That I care this much about you? You called this meeting. I have a lot to do today. I don’t even want to be here. STOP. TALKING. ONLY. ABOUT. YOURSELF. It is SO. BORING.”
How to Warm Up a Cold Contact BEFORE You Email Them (VIDEO)
Writing a ‘cold’ email always feels hard. Even the word in that context is onomatopoeic – “COLD”. Like something you spat out. It just sounds so…*mean*.
As I’ve discussed, big shots in your industry can get 1000’s of emails a day. So how on earth is yours going to stand out?
One solution is to warm that person up first. And the easiest and most fun method? (No, not breaking into their office then forcing a snuggle). It’s…
