Sound or Stupid?
We’ve All Been There. We Know This Guy. We’ve Seen Her In Action.
In a small group and one-on-one. Here it comes. They ramble about nothing. Unimportant, inane, twitchy, braggadocios, boring, a bigger-story story. Sigh. The person has nothing to say, and sez it anyway.
Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak out and remove all doubt. ~Abraham Lincoln
I’ve done it. Yeah. Recently. Plenty in the past too. Probably do it again. But I don’t want to be that “guy”. So here’s what I tell myself. I’m sharing it with you. Check it out and let me know if it’s sound, or, stupid.
What To “Say”, When You Have NOTHING TO SAY.
Here’s what I hope my Jiminey Cricket whispers into my left ear, I’m tempted to talk about nothing….
The Beginning…
.
.
listen
.
.
only ask questions
.
.
think. breathe. relax. listen.
.
.
be interested, not interesting
.
.
Don’t say anything if you don’t have anything to say. Please. Listen hard. Be quiet. Only ask questions.
…The End
If You Don’t Have Anything To Say, Don’t. Shhh.
It’s a really simple concept to grasp, but hard to do. If you catch me yammering, call me on it.
So, Sound or Stupid?
Cheers and thanks for reading.
BawldGuy
May 31, 2010 at 10:46 am
The best advice ever for first time meetings with prospects/clients, and first dates.
Andrew McKay
May 31, 2010 at 2:19 pm
I love the description of “That Guy” in “Trust Agents” by Chris Brogan and Julien Smith:
” That Guy can be a man or a woman, but we all know a version of That Guy. He’s annoying. He handed you his business card immediately buy barely looks at your. His attitude is hand them all out, which is the business equivalent of carpet bombing. He talks about his company [or himself] all the time, but you can tell his smile isn’t very genuine while he’s doing it- maybe it’s even a bit desperate. He isn’t the best person to spend time with and eventually, you’ll be avoiding his calls.”
We all know a few or more than a few.
Michael John Dale
May 31, 2010 at 7:51 pm
I used to own a house painting company. One day I took an up-and-coming young man along with me to a consultation at a potential client’s home. The homeowner was spewing concerns and while my protege was dying to speak up and show off his knowledge, I just sat back and listened. At the right moment, I addressed her concerns and left her home with a notebook page full of information.
When the young man and I got back in the truck, he said something like: “Don’t take offense to this, but you need to work on your sales pitch. You didn’t talk enough.”
I explained to him my belief in the less-is-more process. About a year later, that young man left my company to start his own business. He’s is quite successful and I think it’s because he doesn’t know half as much as he used to.
We featured “What To “SAY”, When You Have “NOTHING TO SAY”.” on the DAILY TOP 10 ARTICLE BLOG at bizsuccessdigest.com
Great job Ken! We enjoyed reading it and just had to share it with our readers.
Alex Cortez
May 31, 2010 at 8:25 pm
Amen to that, brother. Obviously this advice goes well beyond real estate, thanks for the post, Ken.
Ken Brand
May 31, 2010 at 9:16 pm
Thanks fellas. Cheers.
Joe
June 1, 2010 at 11:10 am
“Don’t say anything if you don’t have anything to say.”
When they are rambling, saying nothing is critical. If you say something then you’ve just opened the door to another 5 minutes of rambling.
Ken Brand
June 1, 2010 at 12:38 pm
Yes! How painful is it when some clown just has to ask a stupid question, just to hear themselves talk. Ears Open, Pie Hole Shut. Unless you have pearls to share, of course. Otherwise, zip it.