| Sticks and stones may break
our bones but ugly names can’t hurt us – sound familiar? What a load
of codswallop! (That’s Australian for "nonsense"!) In fact, nothing could be further from
the truth. Words have a powerful impact on our lives. They can make
dreams come true or nightmares a reality. It only takes a split second
to make or break our image, win or lose that client, attract or repel
Prince Charming… A few years back I was looking for love
in all the wrong places and so I was delighted to receive a phone call
from a girlfriend who wanted to fix me up with this
"wonderful" man. Upon asking her what made him so
"wonderful" she recounted three good reasons why I should meet
him: he was breathing; 2) he was single; 3) he was straight. I immediately dashed out in my car and
proceeded to scour numerous shopping malls looking for just the right
dress, just the right shoes and just the right bag to match. I wanted to
make a REALLY good first impression. I was going to knock his socks off!
(If you get the idea that I was just a little desperate here, you would
be right). So my girlfriend and I arrive at the swanky hotel, sit at a
table and then she turns to me and points him out across the crowded
room. He was the epitome of the proverbial "tall, dark and
handsome" man - only he was alive and well and right here in
Houston versus on the cover of some fluffy romance novel! After he comes over to our table, my
girlfriend makes the introductions at which point I bat my eyelashes,
flash my perfect-lip-gloss smile and extend my right hand. He then
smiles at me, making my knees go weak and my mind a total blank and
extends his LEFT hand in that ‘dead-fish’ way I happen to loathe.
Being an independent woman of the nineties, I immediately felt incensed
by this seemingly demeaning gesture and so I blurted out in good old
Aussie style, "Would you mind shaking my hand like a REAL
gentleman?" With that, he took out his right hand from his pocket,
only he didn’t have a HAND at all, it was a metal HOOK – the poor
man was disabled. You can just imagine how mortified I felt! I wanted
the earth to open up and swallow me. Of course HE thought I was the
rudest woman since Zsar Zsar Gabor and as a direct result of all this,
I’m still kissing a bunch of frogs. So when was the last time that YOU
opened your mouth only to insert both feet? Was it to your co-worker,
your employee, your boss or a potential client? We only get ONE chance
to make a FIRST impression – how do you rate? Here’s a news flash: It doesn’t matter how good-looking we are, what great clothes we wear, what kind of car we drive or how much money we have – what matters is what comes out of our mouth! First impressions can make lasting clients – the average person takes approximately just 90 seconds (or less) to form an opinion of someone…how’s that for snap judgment? We all need to think twice before we speak so let’s remember that old saying our Mothers hounded into us when we were mouthing off about Auntie Flo: "If you don’t have anything nice to say then don’t say anything at all". We never know how someone else is going to interpret our words so let’s play it safe and keep them positive, clear and courteous…… Here’s some food for thought on
the power of words: A careless word can kindle strife; A cruel word can wreck a life; A timely word can level stress; A
loving word can heal and bless. Recently I had the pleasure of addressing the Fort Bend Association of Realtors and had included the above ‘hook’ story and bemoaned my frog-kissing woes during my 45-minute keynote. After the presentation a lot of nice people came up to me to chat for a while. Among them was a well-dressed, attractive man from a mortgage company who approached me with great presence and confidence, extending his arm in a handshake as he simply said, "Ribbit"! Needless to say, this time I just laughed. |
