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 about how to reach out to someone
Speaker 1: you admire. I recently read a fascinating article in Harvard
Speaker 1: Business Review from my friend Dory Clark on this topic. Dory,
Speaker 1: the author of Standout, is a personal branding expert and
Speaker 1: runs courses and conferences on how to become a recognized expert.
Speaker 1: As she wrote an HBr, we all have professional idols
Speaker 1: we'd like to meet. Sometimes we might luck into getting
Speaker 1: to say hello at a conference or having a mutual
Speaker 1: friend who can introduce us. But often, despite our suspicions
Speaker 1: that we have a lot in common with and could
Speaker 1: even be friends with our heroes, they remain out of reach.
Speaker 1: Dory notes that she's been on both sides of this equation,
Speaker 1: Sometimes people reach out to her, and sometimes she's reaching
Speaker 1: out to her idols. How to do this well? In
Speaker 1: her article, she suggests four strategies. First, establish your credibility.
Speaker 1: When you send a networking request, it's important to immediately
Speaker 1: set yourself apart as someone worth knowing. Dory writes, for instance,
Speaker 1: when I recently wrote to a prominent film director. I
Speaker 1: started the note by citing our shared alumni affiliation and
Speaker 1: because I wanted to inquire about adapting one of his
Speaker 1: films into a musical mentioning the prominent shows that had
Speaker 1: been created by graduates of the Musical Theater Workshop, I'm in.
Speaker 1: If you make it clear that you are credible and
Speaker 1: not just some random guy and trusted in famous people,
Speaker 1: you're far more likely to get your note read and
Speaker 1: responded to second offer value, Dory notes that your idol
Speaker 1: is likely to view all queries skeptically, as she should.
Speaker 1: High profile people get all sorts of random requests, so
Speaker 1: you need to demonstrate how you can help. Dorry notes
Speaker 1: that right before she was scheduled to speak in Denmark,
Speaker 1: she got a note from someone who lived in Copenhagen.
Speaker 1: This person didn't just ask to meet for coffee in
Speaker 1: order to pick her brain. Those requests are incredibly boring. Instead,
Speaker 1: this person mentioned that she was a fashion designer and
Speaker 1: a stylist, and that Copenhagen had all sorts of wonderful shops.
Speaker 1: She offered to take Dorry on a personal shopping tour
Speaker 1: with the holidays coming up. This was actually appealing as
Speaker 1: Dory notes, we ended up spending more than half a
Speaker 1: day together and we're still in touch. Third, Dori suggests
Speaker 1: that you highlight what makes you interesting, even if it's
Speaker 1: not directly relevant to your idol's career. Why successful people
Speaker 1: like connecting with other interesting people because it feels like fun,
Speaker 1: not work, she writes, and yet so often they're approached
Speaker 1: by people taking the role of supplicants who only want
Speaker 1: to ask questions and glean wisdom. It's flattering at first,
Speaker 1: but with enough volume it can become exhausting. So one
Speaker 1: secret is to position yourself as a peer who is
Speaker 1: notable in your own right. If you've done something really cool,
Speaker 1: like serving in the military as a fighter pilot, or
Speaker 1: visiting a hundred countries, or have a sideline writing music,
Speaker 1: these little details will make you stand out and increase
Speaker 1: the chances of a response. Of course, you're not guaranteed
Speaker 1: a response, and so Dorry notes that the last strategy
Speaker 1: is to make it clear that you have no expectations.
Speaker 1: As she writes, even if your pitch is well crafted,
Speaker 1: your idols might be in a busy period and simply
Speaker 1: don't have time to connect. You get extra points then,
Speaker 1: for empathizing with the situation and addressing it up front.
Speaker 1: She notes that too many people reach out with an
Speaker 1: extraordinary level of entitlement, asking for free things a significant
Speaker 1: introduction are a lot of time when you, as Dory says,
Speaker 1: show an awareness of your heroes circumstances, explaining that you
Speaker 1: don't want to take up too much time in their schedule.
Speaker 1: You set yourself apart in a positive way. So who
Speaker 1: will you reach out to today? Use these strategies and
Speaker 1: you just might add someone fascinating to your network. In
Speaker 1: the meantime. This is Laura. Thanks for listening, and here's
Speaker 1: to making the most of our time. Hey everybody, I'd
Speaker 1: love to hear from you. You can send me your tips,
Speaker 1: your questions, or anything else. Just connect with me on Twitter,
Speaker 1: Facebook and Instagram at Before Breakfast Pod that's b E
Speaker 1: the number four, then Breakfast p o D. You can
Speaker 1: also shoot me an email at Before Breakfast podcast at
Speaker 1: iHeart media dot com. That Before Breakfast is spelled out
Speaker 1: with all the letters. Thanks so much, I look forward
Speaker 1: to staying in touch. Before Breakfast is a production of
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