I wasn’t expecting to be sitting here typing out a blog on my Alaska Air flight to Palm Springs. I fully intended to be listening to my new Patricia Fripp DVD called Preparing and Presenting Powerful Talks. For those of you not familiar with Patricia Fripp, she is one of the premiere speaking and presentation coaches in the world. I became a big fan after attending her workshops at the Region 1 Toastmasters International Conference last June. Now I had her DVD and I was primed for a valuable lesson on this 2 ½ hour flight!
I waited patiently like just about every other passenger for the pilot to come on the loudspeaker and give us the green light to turn on electronic equipment (Boy has traveling on planes changed in the last 10 years).
I popped in the DVD, shut the blinds, turned up the volume and on came Patricia. Funny thing happened. Her mouth was moving but I could barely (and I mean BARELY) here any sound. Checking the volume that it was maxxed out, my keen mind figured out that the huge engines that I was basically sitting on at the wing position was drowning out all audible sound. Even my new fancy Sony earphones didn’t help. This ever happen to you?
It only took me about 7 minutes of watching her talk but not being able to hear her that I realized that I just wasn’t learning by reading her lips. This was a futile effort. I figured since the laptop was out anyways, that this would make a good post. I suppose you will be the judge of that.
While waiting to take off, I made the acquaintance of the person sitting next to me. His name is Jeff and it turns out he and I have some things in common. We are both in the Zoodango online business networking community, both a part of Kiros (in fact, he’s the founder of the Christian business organization), and both consultants. I realize some people don’t like to talk with strangers on an airplane for fear of getting in a long conversation about life insurance or pyramid marketing. Their loss is the opportunity to meet someone new and perhaps gain a friendship. Jeff and I shared thoughts and ideas on our businesses and families and I hope to get to know him better through our mutual interests. After 10,000 feet we both went off to our laptops to get some work done. Since we are both furiously typing away, my guess is he can’t hear anything either.
This is a blog dedicated to communicating, so here’s the moral of this post. Take a chance once in awhile and meet someone new, especially if you are going to be cramped together on a long flight. I have yet to meet someone that I wish I hadn’t started a dialogue with. More often than not, I learn something new that adds to my personal growth. What’s the worst that can happen…you end up with some new life insurance or a bunch of boxes in your garage?
Dan
P.S. Do you have trouble meeting people or networking? That’s a bad thing in business. Let me help you with my Power to Panic Boot Camp coming up in November. Click here to learn more. Dates are being finalized for a Seattle boot camp so stay tuned!
