An INTRODUCTION to the New Year!

Did you have a restful break? Are you feeling inspired about 2020?

I am so excited about 2020. ? My plan is to continue to focus on upping our COMMUNICATION SKILLS with:

weekly email newsletters,
bi-weekly podcast episodes,
some new things that you will be the the first to hear about though this email blog!

I thought that INTRODUCTIONS was an appropriate topic to kick off the year. Do you know how to provide a “proper introduction”?

Let’s do this!

How to Properly Introduce Two People:
DO’s & DON’Ts

DO stand up, even if they say it isn’t necessary. Just do it. This goes for whether you are doing the introductions or if you are being introduced.

DO NOT forget titles and last names if the introduction is formal, professional, or public. (First name only is fine for casual introductions.)

DO introduce a lower ranking person to a higher ranking person. (Wait WHAT?!? Keep reading!)

DO provide relevant context that will encourage them to start talking.

DO NOT hog the conversation once you’ve provided names and context.

Got it?

5 Steps for Making Introductions – Your SCRIPT

Say the name of the ‘higher-ranking’ person.
Say “I would like to introduce” or, “please meet” or, “this is,” etc.
Say the name of the ‘lower-ranking’ person.
Provide context. At work, context could be titles and possibly responsibilities. Regardless of whether it is professional or personal, the context could also include:
- how you know each of them
- where they are from
- what they have in common
Stand back and let them talk.

Well done!!!

RANKING PEOPLE?!?

Of course, many introductions are for equally-ranked people. But when their ranks are different, we should introduce the lower ranking person to the higher ranking person. Got that?

“NAME(HIGH RANK), I would like to introduce NAME (LOW RANK)”

“NAME(HIGH RANK), please meet NAME (LOW RANK)”

Who is “Higher Rank”?

an older person (vs. a younger person)
a more senior person (vs. a less senior person at an organization)
a paying customer (vs. an employee)
a guest (vs. a host)

What about Gender?

They say a woman is higher rank “out of respect.”
All I have to say is: BE CAREFUL!!!

Remember it this way: say the HIGHER ranking person’s name FIRST.

You’re welcome.

Last week & Next week….

In case you missed it in the New Year’s hoopla ?, I released a podcast episode last week that briefly summarizes all of our learnings into “The 19 COMMUNICATION SKILLS We Learned in 2019.”

This 24 minute episode is an efficient way for you to review some of the most important communication skills that are sure to catapult your career and enhance your relationships!

A few people asked me what the most downloaded Talk About Talk podcast episodes are from 2019. Well, there are no “duds” (really!) and notably, downloads are cumulative, so “older” episodes do have an advantage. But here is the current list:

	1. STORYTELLING with Harvard Professor & author Jerry Zaltman
2. PROFANITY with linguistics Professor Darin Flynn (explicit version)
	3. BEYOND CONDOLENCES – SUPPORTING YOUR GRIEVING FRIENDS with psychotherapist & grief counsellor Andrea Warnick
4. RE-IMAGINING YOUR PERSONAL BRAND with CEO & team performance expert Michael Boydell
	5. BUILDING RESILIENCE – SETS & REPS with Eat Clean founder & master wellness coach Tosca Reno

What was your favourite episode to-date? I would ❤️love to know! Please email me anytime, post on social media, or let me know in the “Talk About Our Communication Skills Facebook Group!”

This month in the Facebook Group we are talking about… LISTENING. (Can’t you tell from the photo of the adorable “all ears” dog?) You may have heard (ha!) that I believe the #1 most important communication skill is listening. It’s lots of fun to learn from other Talk About Talkers. Come join us!

Next week’s podcast episode will also focus on LISTENING. The fantastic guest expert whom I interviewed also believes that listening is the most important communication skill. I can’t wait for you to meet him! Until then –