Fun With People
by John Prusa

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to be an extrovert?  You know like having the ability to speak to anyone anywhere.   I guess that would actually be considered extremely extroverted. Wouldn’t it be interesting to speak to perfect strangers? I realize that not everyone is like me and not everyone wants to be like me and I’m thankful for that. But you can practice speaking to people anywhere. The experience will help you broaden your networking skills.

Often, when I am out opportunities arise for me to interact with people in a light-hearted witty sort of way. These opportunities happen to you as well only you’re not looking for them so you don’t see them. Let me give some examples:

• When I accidentally bump into someone I’ll say, “Excuse me. I run into the nicest people where ever I go.”
• Often I stand and hold the door for people. Depending where I’m at I’ll say, “Hello my name is John and I’m the doorman today here at the post office, welcome.”
• If I see a woman with a beautiful smile I’ll say, “Where did you get that beautiful smile? Did your mother give that to you?”
• On Sunday mornings I greet people at my church. To the women I say “Good morning gorgeous” and to the men I say “Good morning handsome.” No one has ever told me I was wrong in my appraisal. More often than not women tell me “I’m much better now”.
• If I see someone more than twice while shopping or at an event I’ll say, “Are you following me?”
• Some times I go down the aisle with the dog food and pet supplies and I’ll comment to some shopper, “Every time I’m in this aisle I get hungry for some reason.”
• While in the checkout line at the grocery store look to see what people are buying. You can formulate some interesting questions depending on what’s there. “Planning a party?” “That looks interesting. What’s for dinner?”
• When I’m loading my trunk with groceries from my shopping cart and the cart is empty I look for someone going in and offer my cart to him or her if they need one. I usually add something like this, “It served me well and I’m certain it will for you as well.” Every time I’ve done that the other person smiled back at me and took my cart.

My goal when interacting with people is to have fun with them and to drop a little sunshine their way.  Interactions with people are good ways to practice your speaking and people skills. When it comes to networking with strangers you’ll have more confidence in your next introduction.