As a favor for a friend, I agreed to meet with a venture capitalist today who’s in the process of transitioning from Washington, D.C. to San Diego. Ironically, our visit took place shortly after an insightful conversation with communications maven, Judith Glaser. I arrived a bit early and started to deconstruct my insights from Glaser, only to receive a call from him informing me that he was running late.
I continued to peel away at what I learned from Glaser, when he finally arrived 90 minutes later. Just as we placed our Espresso order, he asked to take ‘an important call’ outside. Obviously distracted, he walks back in 15 minutes later, places his phone on the table, and starts firing questions at me starting with the preverbal ‘how long’ I’ve been in San Diego. Fortunately, we recovered and had a constructive conversation; but certainly not one that would receive accolades from Glaser.
I learned long ago, that conversational etiquette starts with presence; and in her book, Conversational Intelligence, Glaser will tell you why your good intentions often have bad impact.