In Sandler’s Enterprise Selling™ curriculum, there is a diagram that in a simple picture explains how to carry on a conversation starting from a dead stop with anyone you might meet in a business setting.  In a magic club setting starting a conversation is oftentimes difficult too in particular with a person who is new to the club.

Fortunately, most of those who come to club meetings either do work for a company or did work for a company if they were retired.  This forms a solid foundation for carrying on a lengthy or short conversation depending on the amount of time you have.

Confining oneself to the topic of magic oftentimes stalls out after you get through the initial “How did you get started in magic?” and “What types of magic do you enjoy?”  However, even more than that when you focus on their interest in magic, you learn such an unnecessarily narrow part of who that person is.

From a leader’s perspective, by focusing solely on their magic interests you don’t necessarily gain the best information regarding where the individual’s strengths might lie as you consider where that person might make the most significant contributions as they volunteer for various roles in the club.

As you look at the poster, the conversation begins from the inner most circle and moves to the outside.  Suggested questions are included on the poster too.  Realizing that these questions would be asked as part of a conversation as opposed to an interrogation, the other person in the conversation will invariably asking you questions about yourself and your work background too.

However, this conversation model usually helps a person grow in his/her confidence to the point where they can start and maintain a conversation without the fear of conversation entering the awkward realm of dead silence.

Categories: Affiliation, Sociability