Page 158 - Wake Up and do Your Thing

WAKE UP AND DO YOUR THING
Krispy Kreme doughnut shop. For most of us, this can be daunting.
Assume Rapport
Have you ever been at a gathering and had someone come up to you and say something relatively innocuous, and the next thing you know you"re chatting like old friends? If so, you"ve just had someone assume rapport with you. It"s a nice, easy feeling. You just simply walk up to the person with whom you wish to connect and, usually without so much as a hello, carry on as if you"ve known them all your life. Sure, it requires a certain amount of bravado, but with practice, you can get quite comfortable with it.
The idea behind assuming rapport is that you don"t use any particular opening line—you just start talking. As you learn to include details about whatever"s going on around you at the time, you"ll appear more casual and natural. It"s not supposed to feel like a come-on or pickup. Casual is the key word. It"s perfectly natural and friendly to exchange a few words with people in your daily comings and goings. This kind of friendly chitchat can happen in line at the supermarket, at a cocktail party, at a ballgame, on a plane, at an art gallery, at a business networking event—you name it.
Polish Your People Skills
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