ONE-ON-ONE CONVERSATIONS AND THE REWARDS

This past week I was the keynote speaker at the Puget Sound Career Development Association http://www.pscda.org on Mercer Island near Seattle.

Approximately 25 people who work daily in the career field gathered for their monthly meeting. It was fun to share my techniques on networking and give them a few of my favorite tips on intergenerational communication.

My host for the day and evening was Kate Duttro, a Career Coach/Consultant/Instigator http://www.careerchangeforacademics.com We met about ten years ago and over the years have developed a real respect for each other as people. However, even more importantly, we admire each other for how we stretch our minds and help individuals by providing them with tools that help them be the best they can be.

After the meeting, we came back to her place and the real stretching and growing of minds began. Kate’s home is full of books and it was fun watching her get up and find still another book to help prove her point or share one of her new findings. Kate is one of the library’s best friends.

Kate spends time on a university campuses and I spend most of my time when I am not speaking or training out about in the business community. Thus, we brought different approaches to solving the same issue. While the industries appear to be so different, the truth is people have the need for great communication skills.

We looked up at the clock and realized that it was 2:00 a.m. Neither one of us could even remember when we were up so late. I crawled into bed that night and realized Tony Robbins http://www.tonyrobbins.com is so right when he suggests you should spend time in an industry that is normally not part of your world so that you get a different perspective.

Now it is Monday morning and my task is to implement some of the great ideas we came up with for my career.

BUSINESS COMMUNICATION TIP:

When you make a presentation to a group of people, take two stacks of your contact cards and hand them out to the right and left of the audience and let them pass them on. The goal is to make it convenient for people to get in touch with you.