Life is full of little situations that you encounter regularly. Some people don’t see these for the opportunities that they are: a chance to stand out, be different, and be memorable. They’re a way to quickly built rapport with someone so they can think back later and say “Brian…hmm, yeah he was the guy who does [BLANK]” or “Barbara, oh yeah she is the gal who said [BLANK]”. You stood out enough to be remembered. By breaking out of your comfort zone and doing something a little different than everyone else you can connect with new people on a regular basis. Are there any other ways you like to stand out in people’s minds, build an instant connection, and break patterns? Leave a comment below! To the checker at the grocery store: “I’ll tell you what man, it’s gonna be going a lot better after I eat this sandwhich, I’m starving!” To the cab driver: “Stupendous!” When everyone is going around the circle doing a handshake and it finally comes to you, you can also give them “the rock” to stand out. The rock is when you make a fist and bump it with the other person’s fist. This is a pop culture thing common among younger folks but it can also be humorous and help you stand out. Now you two have an inside joke. If you are in a business setting, you can still do variations on the handshake to stand out. Try coming in wide from the outside with a little bit of a sweeping motion. Or bringing in your left hand too for a “double” (send the left hand up to his/her forearm for extra rapport). These will also show confidence and charm if done correctly. Or….you can say something like “Well, when I finished up school I decided to try working for XYZ company, but I realized after about 30 seconds that I didn’t want to do that, so I got into ABC. But honestly that’s just what I do for a job, what I really love doing is DEF and GHI so I do that pretty much every weekend.” Now they have lots of places to take the conversation. They could ask you about what school you graduated from, your hobbies, why you didn’t like XYZ, etc. It’s uncommonly candid and gives them a better picture of your life. The same goes for the dreaded “Where are you from?”. Give a miniature story in your answer with some interesting details they can follow up on.
