Page 185 - ConvinceThemFlip

open the lines of communication
noodle special—yuk!) The bottom line is that a handshake
should not distract from the introduction.
Small Talk: The WD-40 of
Interpersonal Communication
Magda spent two months working to gather the human
resources department heads of twenty-eight specialty
care clinics at one meeting so they could review a new set
of protocols. After several face-to-face meetings with some
of them, Magda’s boss called her into his office and said, “I
have some good news and some bad news. They’ve agreed
to get together. But they don’t want to work with you.”
Magda was shattered and confused. She came to me
for help. I soon learned this wasn’t the first time some-
thing like this had happened to her. Magda was a bright,
presentable, no-nonsense woman. At first her tales made
no sense. Then something struck me.
“How do you feel about small talk?” I asked her.
“Don’t do it. Can’t stand it,” she replied.
I suggested that her attitude made her appear rather
like a brand-new Jaguar car that had come straight off the
production line but was missing its paint. Perfect in every
way—but uncomfortable to be around.
“Small talk,” I told her, “is like the WD-40 of interpersonal
communication. It just makes things go more smoothly.”
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