The Art of the R.A.P.

There's been a bit of a lull in posts lately, for which I apologise. The principal reason for my absence is a house-move. We finally decided we'd had enough of London and moved our home to the South Coast. I never thought it would be a quick and easy affair, but it's proven to be even tougher than I had anticipated.

One side-effect of the move has been that I've had to put some serious effort into building a network of people and businesses in and around the West Sussex/ Hampshire area to help consolidate Profile Training as being something other than a purely London-centric business...while still giving our London clients the kind of help and service they deserve.

In immersing myself in the local business community and in various networking groups, both formal (4Networking and the local Chamber of Commerce for example) and informal (attending trade expos, chatting to people in various social gatherings etc.) I've rediscovered the joys and tribulations of random access presentations.

"What the...?" I can almost hear you say.

Go back and read it again: Random Access Presentations. I expect I'll write a book on it sometime soon.

Regular readers of this blog will know that I work on the principle that every communication is a presentation, which of course means that every conversation one has with a new acquaintance at a networking meeting or wherever is - and should be treated as - a presentation.

The Random Access bit is simply that you don't have much control over who is going to join your conversation or engage you in one-to-one chat, and it's also impossible to know if that person might be important to you or your business, either directly or as a connection to someone else, so everyone has to get the best from you, and that means the best possible presentation and the best possible attention to THEIR presentation.

Listening to someone else and asking good, directed open questions, so that they can expand on their own theme is an essential business skill. You learn more about them and their business, and they in turn feel that you have given them something back - a fair hearing. They are going to remember you for the right reasons after the event is over, and may well go on to be your best ally in building or reinforcing your business.

So...what's the most important part of a Random Access Presentation (it's also the hardest part to master)?

It's LISTENING rather than rehearsing what you want to say next!