photo by Ldng photos

I was being interviewed for a cable show by an extremely attractive woman who managed to capture a sound byte from everyone she wanted  at a crowded press conference.

“You are really good.”  I said, very impressed by how she worked the room.

“Handling people?  This is easy compared to the job I retired from.”  She tossed her head and laughed, “When I was a police officer, I was always packing and people always listened to me if they knew what was good for them.”

Retired? Police officer?  Packing?  OK, now she had my complete attention.  She was dressed in a classy dark suit with a string of pearls in the most un-law enforcement style.

“I still pack a gun to get people to listen to me, I just wear it better if you know what I mean.”  She grinned and winked as she moved in on her next unsuspecting interviewee.  “People love to be listened to so that’s what I really do.  I listen to them and boom! – they fall in love with me and then they listen to everything I tell them.  Happens all the time.”

Roz happens to be right.  Give someone your total attention, no cellphone, no alerts, no interruptions and see how quickly that person will open up and spill their life story.  Someone who cares enough to listen and focus solely on you is someone you can fall in love with and bare your soul to.  Imagine!

People are natural storytellers.  They are not as interested in being told what to do, or what’s best for them.  Much better to ask a question and just listen carefully to where the answer goes.  That is what most of us humans like doing – telling stories about ourselves to anyone who will  listen.

And for all of you smart listeners,  here’s one of my favorite quotes from Agatha Christie:

“Conversation reveals all.”

Now how sexy is that?

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