Confidence in Yourself: Everyone Has Something to Offer

My previous post gave the link to Chris Brogan’s June 11^th blog post about having confidence at meetings and conferences to go up to people you don’t know and introduce yourself. I also suggested reading the comments to this post.

And the comments from this post have been numerous and, mostly, insightful. Yet there’s one sentence in a comment that has been bothering me since I read it:

“… I tend to be very reserved as I question what I have to offer to the people that I am meeting.”

I’ve pondered this all day. Why must this person – let’s call him Tom – have to have something to offer the people he’s meeting? His having come to the conference to hear these people speak is enough of offering “something.” Speakers wouldn’t be speakers if they had no audiences. Speakers need audience members. Therefore, our Tom has already provided something valuable to the speakers.

And if Tom doesn’t mean the speakers he’s meeting, but instead he means the “important” people in the audience, the same thing holds. Speakers wouldn’t have a big audience if the only people they spoke to were “important” people. Speakers need to have “regular people” interested in the speakers’ presentations in order to have a satisfactory turn-out.

Okay, we’ve established that Tom is already offering something to the people he meets – he’s helping form an appreciative audience. And in addition, he’s offering himself.

Here’s the most significant thing to remember: Every person knows things that other people don’t know.

Now, Tom may not know he has unique information, and that unique information may not come up in a brief introduction, but that information is there ready to be mined by the right person. And who is the right person? Someone who is open to learning from anyone, may that anyone be ever so humble.

Let’s face it. Saying you have nothing to offer is hiding behind a façade. You have something to offer every single person you meet at a conference or meeting – be it as simple as where the men’s room is to what’s the next big internet site that will become “hot.”

Go forward and introduce yourself. The person open to learning from you may be the very next person whose hand you shake.

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Chris Brogan, confidence, Flipping Burgers and Beyond

Chris Brogan Gives Good Advice on Introducing Yourself to New People

Walking up to someone you haven’t met before at a conference or reception (as opposed to walking up to someone you know slightly – see my June 7^th blog) and introducing yourself can be very intimidating. Yet, if you’ve come to a conference or reception to meet people, that’s the name of the game.

Chris Brogan’s June 11^th blog post on this subject is quite interesting (don’t let the post title throw you):
www.chrisbrogan.com/be-sexier-in-person

Read his post and perhaps the numerous comments to it. There’s a lot of good advice for how to introduce yourself with confidence.

Here’s the comment I left on this post:

“It’s very helpful to switch from focusing on yourself to focusing on the other person. Instead of wanting to get in information about yourself, I think it’s better to establish rapport by getting the other person to talk about himself/herself. This happens by asking an appropriate (not rude) open-ended question that can’t be answered by a simple yes or no.

“If you get the other person talking about himself/herself, eventually you will be able to talk about yourself. And if you get interrupted before that time, you can always send a follow-up email saying how much you enjoyed speaking with the person — and then slip in something appropriate about yourself.”

Leave a comment on Chris’ post or here on what you think of the suggestions.

Technorati Tags:
Chris Brogan, confidence, introducing yourself, Flipping Burgers and Beyond