WEBVTT - The art of virtual coffee

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of iHeartRadio.

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<v Speaker 2>Good Morning, This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast.

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<v Speaker 2>Today's tip is about how to have casual relationship building

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<v Speaker 2>conversations with people you would like to get to know professionally,

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<v Speaker 2>even if you are not in the same place. A

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<v Speaker 2>virtual coffee date is a great way to build your

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<v Speaker 2>network and maybe enjoy a little downtime in your day

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<v Speaker 2>as well. Whether you work in the office five days

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<v Speaker 2>a week or are part of an entirely virtual team,

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<v Speaker 2>my guess is that at least some of your professional

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<v Speaker 2>relationships are mostly virtual now. It can be harder to

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<v Speaker 2>get to know your colleagues when you never cross paths

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<v Speaker 2>in person, but it is not impossible, and doing so

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<v Speaker 2>will help you do your job effectively and efficiently. This

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<v Speaker 2>is where virtual coffees come in. If you join the

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<v Speaker 2>workforce before twenty twenty, you no doubt had coffee dates

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<v Speaker 2>with co workers, clients, and people you met at conferences

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<v Speaker 2>or networking events. Meeting someone for coffee is a casual,

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<v Speaker 2>low pressure way to get to know someone better. There

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<v Speaker 2>is usually no formal agenda. Usually it is not a

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<v Speaker 2>ton of time, almost always less than an hour. But

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<v Speaker 2>the upside from these casual conversations is that you know

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<v Speaker 2>the person a little better, know what they're interested in,

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<v Speaker 2>and know how they work. You trust each other more

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<v Speaker 2>and that makes it easier to get things done. In

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<v Speaker 2>the past, these coffees were obviously assumed to be in

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<v Speaker 2>person where you have coffee together, But as more people

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<v Speaker 2>work remotely, and as more people take advantage of virtual

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<v Speaker 2>meeting technology, you can certainly recreate these casual conversations in

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<v Speaker 2>virtual form. So why not bring it up. If there

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<v Speaker 2>is someone you'd like to get to know, you could

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<v Speaker 2>send a note saying that if we were in the

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<v Speaker 2>same place, I'd suggest we grab coffee to get to

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<v Speaker 2>know each other. But since we are in different places,

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<v Speaker 2>what about virtual coffee? If the person accepts a thirty

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<v Speaker 2>minute video call can work just fine. Send a calendar

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<v Speaker 2>invitation with a link, just as you would for a meeting,

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<v Speaker 2>and you can, of course just show up at the

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<v Speaker 2>appointed time, But it might be wise to make best

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<v Speaker 2>use of your time by thinking it through in advance.

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<v Speaker 2>Consider what you'd like to talk about. Has the person

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<v Speaker 2>mentioned anything important to them that you could ask about.

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<v Speaker 2>Maybe you've picked up on some detail of their personal

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<v Speaker 2>life where you have an overlap kids of the same

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<v Speaker 2>age previously living in the same town. That sort of thing.

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<v Speaker 2>To help the conversation along, think about some questions and

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<v Speaker 2>conversation starters. You want the call to feel casual but focused,

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<v Speaker 2>so one approach is to have a list of questions

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<v Speaker 2>you could ask, but then let the conversation flow naturally,

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<v Speaker 2>rather than feeling like you have to ask all the

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<v Speaker 2>questions in a pre planned sequence. You should also think

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<v Speaker 2>about how you want to answer these same questions, since

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<v Speaker 2>anyone with a modest amount of social skills will not

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<v Speaker 2>to say and how about you? After answering anything extensively,

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<v Speaker 2>think about what you would like to share a milestone

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<v Speaker 2>you have just reached, a project you are excited about

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<v Speaker 2>that you like to spend your lunch break weading your garden.

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<v Speaker 2>Since this is a professional colleague, be sure you learn

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<v Speaker 2>a little bit about what makes them tick professionally. If

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<v Speaker 2>you are new at a company and having coffee with

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<v Speaker 2>a more experienced colleague, this is a great opportunity to ask,

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<v Speaker 2>what do I need to know or do to be

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<v Speaker 2>successful here? Or what do people who thrive here have

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<v Speaker 2>in common? If there is something you are aiming for

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<v Speaker 2>feel free to share it. Not so much that you

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<v Speaker 2>intend to become CEO in the next two years, but

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<v Speaker 2>if you always love to work on events or want

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<v Speaker 2>to do more writing, people should know about that. Since

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<v Speaker 2>a virtual coffee is about building relationships, use open ended

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<v Speaker 2>questions that people can take in whatever direction they want.

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<v Speaker 2>A question like what keeps you engaged when you're not

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<v Speaker 2>at work. Lets a person share about their family, their hobbies,

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<v Speaker 2>a new skill they're trying to build, or any other

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<v Speaker 2>topic that is important to them and that they are

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<v Speaker 2>comfortable sharing with you. Think about what you want to

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<v Speaker 2>share too, information about family members, pets, hobbies, volunteer commitments,

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<v Speaker 2>and so forth. A practical note, since you are not

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<v Speaker 2>actually at a coffee shop, you don't have to purchase

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<v Speaker 2>a cup of coffee to be sitting there, but it's

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<v Speaker 2>kind of nice to have a cup of coffee or

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<v Speaker 2>a glass of lemonade or something up on your screen

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<v Speaker 2>that signals this is a casual conversation rather than a

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<v Speaker 2>formal meeting. You might also move away from your desk

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<v Speaker 2>and sit in a more comfortable spot like a couch

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<v Speaker 2>or maybe even your hammock outside. As with in person coffees,

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<v Speaker 2>it is always nice to follow up with a note

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<v Speaker 2>saying that you enjoyed meeting the person. Assuming you did,

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<v Speaker 2>you can thank people for their time regardless and make

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<v Speaker 2>a note about anything you plan to follow up. On

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<v Speaker 2>the upside of a virtual coffee is that you don't

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<v Speaker 2>even need to build in travel time. This can truly

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<v Speaker 2>be a quick thirty minute thing which could fit in

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<v Speaker 2>a packed day in a way that driving to Starbucks

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<v Speaker 2>from your office often can't. So if anything, you can

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<v Speaker 2>err on the side of scheduling more virtual coffees. It

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<v Speaker 2>is a small investment of time that can have a

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<v Speaker 2>big payoff in your relationships.

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<v Speaker 1>Do you have virtual coffees. I'd love to hear about them.

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<v Speaker 1>You can reach me at Laura at Laura vandercam dot com.

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<v Speaker 1>In the meantime, this is Laura. Thanks for listening and

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<v Speaker 1>here's to making the most of our time.

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<v Speaker 2>Hey everybody, I'd love to hear from you. You can

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<v Speaker 2>send me your tips, your questions, or anything else.

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<v Speaker 1>Just connect with me on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram at

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<v Speaker 1>Before Breakfast Pod that's b E the number four then

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<v Speaker 1>breakfast Pod.

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<v Speaker 2>You can also shoot me an email.

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<v Speaker 1>At Before Breakfast Podcasts at iHeartMedia dot com that before

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<v Speaker 1>Breakfast is spelled out with all the letters. Thanks so much,

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<v Speaker 1>should I look forward to staying in touch. Before Breakfast

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<v Speaker 1>is a production of iHeartRadio. For more podcasts from iHeartRadio,

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