Savvy job seekers know that they can’t use the same tone, loudness and speed when they start talking with everyone.
This is one of those places where one size DOESN”T fit all. To start a conversation on the right level, you will want to match the mood of your conversational partner.
To mood match, you only need to:
Listen very closely to their initial words. How do they sound? Are they speaking softly, high and fast, clearly? You will be able to get a sense of their mood with just a few words if you listen with that intention.
If you take a couple of seconds to assess your conversational partner’s mood, you will be able to match your opening words to their mood. That makes you sound soothing and comforting. It helps the other person feel that you are just like them. And people tend to like people who ARE LIKE THEM.
If you do not make the effort to do this, you will have a lot of those conversations that seem to die before they ever really got started. This is because there is too much of a mismatch between you and your would-be conversational partner. You aren’t “in the same place” as they say. The conversation isn’t soothing; it’s most likely irritating or jarring at some level.
One good example of conversationalists who never bother to match your mood are telemarketers. You know, the ones who are always relentlessly cheerful and happy, talking fast and loud regardless of how you feel. And your feelings were very evident when you said that first Hello. But they totally ignore those signals.
When someone ignores your mood signals, it makes you personally feel slightly ignored and discounted.
When you do these things to match their mood, your phone conversation gets off to a “we’re alike” tempo, and you’re already building a relationship even with a complete stranger.
So pick someone to call, get your script here, and dial.
Let me know how it is going, and never hesitate to give me a call if you have any questions.
Wishing you the best!
P.S. To get your copy of my free and terror-free 17 word for word networking scripts, click here.