He must have sensed my panic, because the proprietor of our local 7-11 stands up from his chair behind the counter and walks over to point me in the direction of the nail polish remover.
“Anything else?” he asks absentmindedly as he scans the bottle.
“No,” I smile. “I’m on a mission to solve a very specific crisis.”
A wistful expression flickers across his face, and unfortunately I miss the opportunity to ask what nail polish story he’s remembering. I’m certain it would have been worth hearing.
“I get it,” he confides. “I’ve got three sisters, four daughters and seven nieces.”
He hands me my change and flashes a kindly smile.
“Good luck.”
And it gets me thinking about your Elevator Pitch.
Because people ask you throw-away questions all day long.
“How’s it going?”
“What do you do?”
“Anything else?”
People who mumble a canned response miss every opportunity to start a conversation.
They also miss every opportunity to make a human connection.
Making human connections is a good skill to have, whether you’re at a networking event, standing in line at the grocery store, attending a little league game, or running a quick errand at your local 7-11.
Connections lead to conversations.
Conversations lead to opportunities.
So this week, in response to a throw-away question, instead of mindlessly trotting out your usual canned response, share one specific thing about you.
Most people will look momentarily confused, or laugh awkwardly, or ignore you.
Do it anyway.
Because you will connect with some people – and those will be good connections.
What’s the best unexpected conversation you’ve started in the past week?
Let us know in the comments…