Get more with a smile

I was working at an event last night meeting and greeting people and was trying to come up with a post based on my experiences. Unfortunately it was a very late night and the coherence is not really flowing yet, to my rescue came WikiHow who coincidentally posted an article entitled 'how to be charming'.

I always find it easy to be charming and sociable with people that I'm not likely to have to meet again, harder with people when I know it's the first meeting in a potential longer relationship. For an event such as the one I was at, everyone was arriving looking a bit lost and unsure and I tried very hard to greet them with a smile, eye contact, a genuine interest in their question and a friendly goodbye as I sent them on their way to the bar. I used the same approach with the other staff that were working at the venue and on the event.

In contrast one of the people I was with was very formal, had a rote like response to questions and a definite aura of "I'm trying to get through my evening's work as quietly as possible and you are interfering with that".

My method meant I made a genuine, all be it very brief, connection with a number of famous and interesting people. Her method possibly got her to dinner 3 minutes early.