Halo Grabber

So there’s this guy whom I shared a table with, in a poli-sci class when we were in college. He’s gone on to become an extremely successful political consultant-author-speaker-globally recognized public figure.

We got along fine but didn’t really get to know each other that well other than sharing the table with another student, and certainly did not stay in touch.

A while back I was getting to know someone else who graduated from my school, a couple of years older than me so of course she did NOT sit at the same table as us.

I dropped the guy’s name, hoping to impress my new friend and do a little good old-fashioned halo grabbing.

She replied that oh yeah, she knows him. They just had dinner last month. They’ve presented at conferences together.

Insert sheepish grin here.

Since that incident, I’m trying to get into the habit of assuming that the person I’m talking to already knows any third person that I bring up… better than I do. That they’re already good friends.

Of course, this won’t always be the case but….

This is really important in case I (or in your case, you) ever get the urge to say something less than complimentary about that third person. Or make promises regarding that third person that you might be put in the position of having to keep.

Be honest. Be genuine. And rely on yourself to be impressive in your own way.

What do you think?

See you tomorrow!