Speaker 1: Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of iHeartRadio. Good Morning.
Speaker 1: This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast. Today's
Speaker 1: tip is that if a person mentioned something important in passing,
Speaker 1: circle back to it. When people share something about themselves,
Speaker 1: they are okay with you knowing it, and knowing it
Speaker 1: can help you feel more connected. So we have probably
Speaker 1: all had conversations when the other person mentions something going
Speaker 1: on in their life while focused on another topic. Maybe
Speaker 1: your colleague asks to reschedule a meeting because of a
Speaker 1: parent teacher conference at her daughter's new school. A fellow
Speaker 1: volunteer might apologize for turning something in late and note
Speaker 1: that she has been behind on everything since being out
Speaker 1: of town for a funeral last week. Your buddy from
Speaker 1: yoga might arrive late for class and as she is
Speaker 1: squeezing her mat into place, mutter and explanation about her
Speaker 1: puppy not wanting to let her out of the house.
Speaker 1: All of this is sometimes called free information, tidbits of
Speaker 1: personal information people drop while they are talking about something else.
Speaker 1: When you follow up on information like this, you show
Speaker 1: that you care, which can help build the relationship. As
Speaker 1: you are chatting about the rescheduled meeting, you could ask
Speaker 1: your colleague if her daughter as liking her new school.
Speaker 1: You could tell your fellow volunteer you are sorry for
Speaker 1: her loss, and perhaps ask about the person who died.
Speaker 1: And after yoga class you could ask to see photos
Speaker 1: of the new puppy. There are some upsides to following
Speaker 1: up on free information versus other ways of connecting one
Speaker 1: obvious one. With free information, you already know that the
Speaker 1: other person is comfortable talking about it, since they mentioned it.
Speaker 1: You don't have to feel around blindly for ways to connect,
Speaker 1: like what are your hobbies or do you like the Phillies.
Speaker 1: When you follow up on free information, you know the
Speaker 1: topic is relevant to the other person. This gets you
Speaker 1: to genuine connection much more efficiently. I have noticed that
Speaker 1: some people are pros at noticing free information. They seem
Speaker 1: to remember it effortlessly. If you are one of those people, wow,
Speaker 1: thank you for making people feel seen. If you are
Speaker 1: not naturally one of those people, and I would include
Speaker 1: myself in this category, I have some tips. First, be
Speaker 1: on the lookout for free information now that you know
Speaker 1: it has a name. This could be helpful. You don't
Speaker 1: have to engage with every piece of free information, but
Speaker 1: when a person feels something important, notice sometimes you may
Speaker 1: be able to acknowledge the free information right there. You
Speaker 1: mentioned you were away for a funeral recently. I'm sorry
Speaker 1: for your loss. Then leave some silence in case the
Speaker 1: person wants to volunteer something about the person who died.
Speaker 1: Other times, you may want to follow up on free
Speaker 1: information later. You can treat this like any other sort
Speaker 1: of follow up you would do. That is, track it
Speaker 1: and schedule it so you don't forget about it. The
Speaker 1: colleague who rescheduled a meeting because of a conference at
Speaker 1: her daughter's new school. In your personal notes for the meeting,
Speaker 1: make a note new school as a reminder to ask
Speaker 1: about it. If your friend mentions she can't run before
Speaker 1: work next Thursday morning because she's giving a big presentation,
Speaker 1: write an entry on your task list for that day
Speaker 1: or the day before Julia's big presentation. Then, when you
Speaker 1: see the entry on Thursday, text her to wish her
Speaker 1: good luck or to ask how it went. We are
Speaker 1: all complex people with complex lives. Free information can offer
Speaker 1: us little glimpses into something we might not have known about.
Speaker 1: When this information is acknowledged, it can make other people
Speaker 1: feel seen in the meantime, this is Laura. Thanks for listening,
Speaker 1: and here's to making the most of our time. Thanks
Speaker 1: for listening to Before Breakfast. If you've got questions, ideas,
Speaker 1: or feedback, you can reach me at Laura at Laura
Speaker 1: vandercam dot com. Before Breakfast is a production of iHeartMedia.
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