Business Networking Course With Elizabeth Clark
Rapport Unlimited's Elizabeth Clark shows professional speakers how to approach strangers, and groups when business networking. Learn the three zones of working a room and more.
Step 1: Zones & Labels
I need a volunteer. John, come on. What's your name and where do you come from? Speak into the mike. Now John what we're going to demonstrate to the lovely audience is our zones. Now I want you to go up to the first little label, you can stop there. Right. What's that label say?
Step 2: Social Zone
John: Public zone. 3.6 meters plus.
Clark: So anywhere out there you're just in the general vicinity. People can clock you but there's not an awful lot's going to happen. Come closer.
John: Social zone. 1.2 meters to 3.6 meters.
Step 3: Group Exercise
Right. This is your social zone here. Now. When you're in here you're getting right into the nitty gritty. What we're going to do is a little group exercise now. What we're going to do now is an eyebrow flash.
Step 4: Eyebrow
An eyebrow flash is a quick up and down of the eyebrows. One two three, eyebrow flash. Now when we eyebrow flash someone it's a non-sexual thing. It's over here, it's one of these things, you eyebrow flash someone, they eyebrow flash you back.
Already it's registering with them and you can stop doing it now that it is already registering with them that you're familiar. So there's less that you have to say because we've given them a bit of a flash. So we're out here, you're trying to catch my attention. You flash me, flash you back. There you are. We've said hallo and we're not even in the same vicinity yet. Well, we're in the right vicinity. Come closer.
Step 5: Personal Zone
The personal zone is between 46 centimeters to 1.2 meters. Right. So that's this little bit here to this bit here. Now once you're getting into this area, now's the time you should be speaking. Speak to me John.
Once we get to this kind of distance you've got to say something. It doesn't really matter what you say, it's how you say it that counts. Bit more eyebrow flashing there. At this point this is where you'd be sort of bursting into someone's conversation.
Quite literally, you wouldn't be bursting into conversation but you're trying to get into their attention, you're speaking to them and we're about to do that whole physical contact thing that that lady over there would like. So at this point, you're basically saying, it doesn't matter what you say, just "may I join you?" or something really simple like that.
Step 6: Go Closer
May I join you?
No. Now, if we're going to touch somebody we need to be a bit closer. We can't touch from over there, can we? Come closer John. Where are you now John?
Step 7: Intimate Zone
The intimate zone is between fifteen to 46 centimeters.
So to put that into perspective for you. Hold. We'd be sort of from here to here is our intimate zone. We don't really want to be in our clients' intimate zone because if you get too intimate you're down their cleavage, aren't you John?
Yes. And talking of cleavage I spoke before about this whole peripheral vision thing men have, they have a real problem with. This is where it hits home really hard for them.
