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

by Leil Lowndes

The study showed women who were slower to smile in corporate life were perceived as more credible."

Don't flash an immediate smile when you greet someone, as though anyone who walked into your line of sight would be the beneficiary. Instead, look at the other person's face for a second. Pause. Soak in their persona. Then let a big, warm, responsive smile flood over your face and overflow into your eyes. It will engulf the recipient like a warm wave. The split-second delay convinces people your flooding smile is genuine and only for them.

"People don't care how much you know until they know how much you care . . . about them."

"How do you spend most of your time?"

If you eavesdrop on big winners talking with each other, you'll notice a lot more you than I in their conversation.

Many speakers use author's and speaker's agent Lilly Walters's face-saver lines from her book, What to Say When You're Dying on the Platform.

Never, ever, make a joke at anyone else's expense. You'll wind up paying for it, dearly.