Big Bores Are Marketing Flops
8 Tips for Knowing When You Are Truly Boring Someone
Boredom.
It's not an easy thing to hide. Our eyes glaze over. Our ears tune out conversations. We tend to get restless.
It's ok to be bored.
It's not ok to be boring! Especially if networking is one of your marketing tools.
A recent Psychology Today article presented these 8 ways to tell if you're really boring someone to tears.
1. Non-engaging responses.
You know a person is not being a good listener when he or she repeats, “Oh really? Wow. Oh really? Interesting.”
2. Short, simple questions.
People who are bored steer away from complicated questions that show curiosity and instead ask questions that require one-word answers like, "Where do you practice?"
3. Rarely interrupts.
Contrary to popular opinion, interruption is actually a good sign. It means the person is eager to say something, and that shows interest.
4. No elaboration.
A person who is interested in what you’re saying will ask you to explain.
“When exactly did that happen?” “Then what did he say?” are the kinds of questions that show that someone is trying to follow the conversation closely.
5. Conversation imbalance.
In general, people who are interested in a subject have things to say themselves; they want to add their own opinions, information, and experiences. If they aren’t doing that, they're probably keeping quiet in the hopes that the conversation will end faster.
6. Abrupt change of subject.
An abrupt change in the topic of conversation is a sure sign that the initial subject was not engaging.
7. Body language.
People with a good connection generally turn to face each other and have solid eye contact. A person who is partially turned away isn’t engaged in the conversation.
8. Posture.
People tend to fidget, slouch, and lean when they are bored, while attentive people tend to sit up straight and fidget less.
At your next networking event, try to be mindful of these cues. When you detect that you are boring someone, make a note of what you were saying when the other person tuned you out.
We can't be ENGAGING AND FASCINATING all the time, but we can train ourselves to keep our antennae out and be sensitive to the signals others are sending us. If networking is an important component of your marketing strategy, practice AWARENESS so you can either stop talking or change the subject when your listener acts bored.
Entries(RSS)