The Art of Preparation

I had just assumed this was all taken for granted. Based on some of my recent discussions with colleagues & friend it seems not. 

And in the famous words (for me) of Robert Baden-Powell, the founder of the Scouts.... "Always be Prepared"

How prepared are you for that next meeting? Internal / External.... A prospect? A Job Interview?A social encounter that you may have some anxiety about.

What do you know about who you are meeting? Have you taken the time to research them?

How good does it feel when someone opens a discussion with any or some of the following -

• Hey we both know xxx

• We went to the same school

• I'm a fan of the xxx sports team

• We both worked at yyy

• I used to Live in zzz

….. and the subsequent discussion, such an icebreaker and takes any “edge” off the discussion.

Much has been written about the short about of time you have to connect and keep the discussion going so I won't dwell on that. 

The value and power of the social networking and research you can do is limited by the time you have. And make time for it, the person meeting you may have done the same!

There are many platforms you can use, and I encourage you to be part of to help you prepare, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and of course (and this is not a paid commercial) there is also LinkedIn. It's your external window to the world. Assume anyone who is about to meet you has looked you up....

• Are you on LinkedIn (of course - you are reading this! Know anyone who is not?)

• What does it tell them about you!?

• Is your profile current?

• Is the photo of you now? (I can't tell you the number I look at and think "that was 10 Years ago +/- 10kg"

• Are you sharing something about the personal side of you? Qualifications / charity work / memberships etc 

… and then give google.com a quick look. Maybe this person / these people have a public face that you are not aware of.

So back to the preparation. Can you see how many great ice breakers / bonding opportunities there are here? And how you can differentiate yourself in your next “cold” engagement.

Interested in anything missed, extra suggestions or other views….