Everyone You Know Was Once A Stranger

You may have already realized that I am on a crusade to get the world chatting to one another, strangers in passing just simply saying hello to each other and seeing where it takes them.

Apart from our family, everyone you know was once a stranger. Tweet this.

Last week, I gave away 50 copies of my latest book Start with Hello to my email list on a first come first served basis. I could have given away hundreds from the response I had and here’s the interesting thing, most of those replies came with a note, some long, and some short, with their experiences of saying hello to strangers.

“I used to wonder what the person in front would think, but after reading your article I have started saying hello not for any purpose. Now it is becoming easier and easier day by day.”

“I was at a restaurant last night and started a conversation with the waitress, ending in me giving her my business card and her giving me her name and number.”

“I sat in a room yesterday with 7 other men for 15 minutes and not one said a word to another. Most were doing something on their smart phones”.

“I remembered what you said and so said hello to the gentleman that I sat next to at the show last night”

Some of you reading this will have the confidence to say hello to someone you don’t know, maybe at a networking event or social occasion, but there are many, many people who find the whole idea of talking to a stranger totally nerve wracking and so just don’t bother. They know they need to make the effort and network for their business but simply don’t know where to start. The fear of saying the wrong thing, being rejected in some way or just clamming up makes it a nightmare to do.

My advice is this: simply start with baby steps. Just as if you are just starting out running, or learning a new language, or a new hobby, you start with the basics and build on them, adding more and more newly gained knowledge as you go. As you gather more and more confidence, you don’t need the stabilizer wheels on anymore, so progressing from simply saying hello to starting a brief conversation will come more naturally and a whole lot easier for you. For now, just start by saying Hello!

It’s encouraging to hear your stories about how you feel when you first make the effort, and its great to hear the stories that happen because you did. I’d love to hear them all, so drop me a line at [email protected] or share them below.

Photo: Everett Collection / Shutterstock

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My latest book “Start with Hello” (Wiley) is out now and talks about how to meet more people you don’t currently know by starting with hello. You can get a complimentary sample of a chapter from here.