How to Talk to Anyone: 92 Little Tricks for Big Success in Relationships

by Leil Lowndes

‘What do you do?’ When someone asks, never give just a one-word answer. That’s for forms. If business networking is on your mind, ask yourself, ‘How could my professional experience benefit this person’s life?’ For example, here are some descriptions various people might put on their tax return: estate agent financial planner martial arts instructor cosmetic surgeon hairdresser Any practitioner of the above professions should reflect on the benefit his or her job has to humankind. (Every job has some benefit or you wouldn’t get paid to do it.) The advice to the folks above is: Don’t say ‘estate agent.’ Say ‘I help people moving into our area find the right home.’ Don’t say ‘financial planner.’ Say ‘I help people plan their financial future.’ Don’t say ‘martial arts instructor.’ Say ‘I help people defend themselves by teaching martial arts.’ Don’t say ‘cosmetic surgeon.’ Say ‘I reconstruct people’s faces after disfiguring accidents.’ (Or, if you’re talking with a woman ‘of a certain age,’ as the French so gracefully say, tell her, ‘I help people to look as young as they feel through cosmetic surgery.’)