How to Meet Strangers

Seth Godin wrote here about taking the initiative when meeting new people. Have a read, it’s good stuff (as always).

The fear of being rejected when encountering new people is completely normal, and when you’re stepping out to do public speaking in front of a group of strangers, it’s natural to want to run (or perhaps walk briskly) away. You don’t know anything about them. Who knows what they’re like? Perhaps they’ll hate you. However, here’s the thing:

They don’t know you either. You can create any impression you like, even one that’s slightly more impressive than your actual self (see also my post ‘Get Your Coat, You’ve Pulled’).

Even if you do already know some or all of the audience, there may be some secret skills, knowledge or extra-curricular activities that you can allude to: why not include your obsession with baking cakes, your time spent learning wing chun kung-fu, your crazy children, your old-fashioned parents, or your ability to say “hello, where is the nearest post office?” in Mandarin Chinese. Anything you’re genuinely interested in – that the audience doesn’t already know – will create an impression of someone with wider interests than solely in what you’re presenting.

Become more than you initially appear in the eyes of your audience.