Speaker 1: Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of I Heart Radio.
Speaker 1: Good Morning. This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast.
Speaker 1: Today's tip is to ask for more information. There is
Speaker 1: no harm in clarifying things. Whenever anyone asks for a favor,
Speaker 1: you can make sure everyone is spending their time wisely,
Speaker 1: including you. Today's tip, like others this week, comes from
Speaker 1: my friend Dory Clark's new book The Long Game, How
Speaker 1: to be a long term thinker in a short term world.
Speaker 1: Dory heartily recommends connecting with lots of people. However, when
Speaker 1: we pack our schedules completely full, it's hard to have
Speaker 1: space to think and create. The answer to this dilemma
Speaker 1: is to make sure that you are connecting with people
Speaker 1: when you can be most help full. So when people
Speaker 1: ask to connect, follow up ask why they want to connect.
Speaker 1: Here's the script door he suggests, I'd love to see
Speaker 1: if I can be helpful. Can you tell me a
Speaker 1: bit more about what you'd like to discuss and how
Speaker 1: I can be useful to you in particular. Yes, this
Speaker 1: prolongs the email or phone exchange, but this does a
Speaker 1: few things. First, some chunk of disorganized people will never
Speaker 1: follow up. This lets you concentrate your energy on the
Speaker 1: people who are going to make use of your time together. Second,
Speaker 1: you want to be sure that what the person needs
Speaker 1: help with is something you can do. If they are
Speaker 1: looking for advice on breaking into public relations, but that's
Speaker 1: not actually what you do. Good to know before both
Speaker 1: of you have that awkward conversation if they want you
Speaker 1: to help with something, also ask specifically what they want
Speaker 1: your help with. This allows you to figure out before
Speaker 1: meeting if this is something that you are willing to do,
Speaker 1: and also enables you to direct them to the right resources.
Speaker 1: I don't have any connections at that company, for instance,
Speaker 1: but everyone in that industry seems to read this certain blog.
Speaker 1: We want to be helpful, but there is nothing gained
Speaker 1: by having a conversation with someone who really wants to
Speaker 1: be introduced to a certain person when you don't know
Speaker 1: that person. I mean, maybe you'll have a great conversation
Speaker 1: about other things, maybe you'll build a friendship, and that
Speaker 1: would be awesome, But if the person's heart was really
Speaker 1: set on the intro it might just not be a
Speaker 1: good use of anyone's time, So ask for more information.
Speaker 1: That way, the networking conversations you do have will be
Speaker 1: more fruitful, which feels far more satisfying than wasting time
Speaker 1: realizing you can't really help. In the meantime, This is Laura.
Speaker 1: Thanks for listening, and here's to making the most of
Speaker 1: our time. Hey, everybody, I'd love to hear from you.
Speaker 1: You can send me your tips, your questions, or anything else.
Speaker 1: Just connect with me on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram at
Speaker 1: Before Breakfast pod that's B the number four, then Breakfast
Speaker 1: p o D. You can also shoot me an email
Speaker 1: at Before Breakfast podcast at i heeart media dot com
Speaker 1: that Before Breakfast is spelled out with all the letters.
Speaker 1: Thanks so much, I look forward to staying in touch.
Speaker 1: Before Breakfast is a production of I Heart Radio. For
Speaker 1: more podcasts from my heart Radio, visit the i heart
Speaker 1: Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your
Speaker 1: favorite shows. The Gayet