I always preach the importance of being memorable.
I spend a good bit of time calculating ways of making
sure that I "win" most of my first impressions. I assure you this is
not something driven by ego or competition. By "winning", I want to
make sure I take away knowledge from the conversation and I want to ensure that
they remember me or things about me. Good things. First impressions are important in business
and in the general establishing of healthy relationships. Picking up takeaways
in conversations not only help your relationship with that person, but also
helps in future conversations with similar subject matter. (I've never ran a
marathon, but I can talk about it because I know someone that has).
A few weeks ago I was at a radio industry event. I got to
reconnect with a few people that I had not seen in a while and I also got the
opportunity to meet others that I have never met. I don't traditionally hand
out business cards. I always forget to load my wallet with them, but in all
honesty, I don't really like the slightly pretentious act of the exchange. We
are in a world of advanced technology and it's easier to pull someone up on
social media than it is to remember to hang onto a piece of thick paper. I take
cards more than I pass them out and within 24 hours, that person will almost
always get an email from me. Unlike dating and waiting the mandatory 2 days
before calling a girl, I immediately connect with the other person. In business
and networking, (they go hand in hand) immediacy is important.
At this event, I ran into a woman that I had only met
once and it was about 15 years ago. We were introduced by a mutual friend and
she and I then sparked up a great conversation with subjects changing every 3
minutes. (I was drinking gin and tonic, so that probably assisted in the flow
of random topics). She then asked me "do you remember the first time we
met"? This is a memory skill I
pride myself on, but honestly didn't recall the moment. I knew who she was and
where she had worked. The radio and record industry is a small world and our
business is very relationship based.
She said "you (meaning me) almost got us thrown out
of an artist showcase because you were making my laugh so damn hard". She
also followed with "you used to be fat".
So, the two takeaways I left her with were that I was
dangerously funny and fat. Got it. According to our first meeting and the
impression that was left, for the past 15 years, I was Chris Farley. Not how I
planned on leaving my mark in this world.
I'm not saying you should consume yourself with the
concern of what others think. Not at all. Honestly, it's not a terrible thing
to be a fat and funny guy, but are those the words you want chiseled on your
headstone when they lower your huge body, that was placed Ina piano case, into
the ground. Yeah, probably not. "He never met a joke or sandwich that he
didn't love".
Having her remember me that way was much better than not
having her remember me at all. Nothing is more deflating to the sails than to
have someone not recall one single thing about you. Going to your 20 year
reunion and not having anyone remember being is class with you would suck. (I
mean you drove all that way). Being the date she doesn't remember isn't a
healthy for your mojo.
Again, there is no
need to obsess about this, but leaving the right impression is important.
Taking up space in someone else's brain, for the right reason, may not be your
biggest goal in life. Yet, if you're going to go through all these years on
planet earth, you might as well be memorable. Memorable for all the right
reasons.
