Coaching with NLP For Dummies®

Opening and Ending Sessions with Elegance

The way you open and end any conversation makes a real difference in the value both parties take from the interaction. Have you ever been in mid-conversation with someone when your talk ended too quickly? Perhaps you've been on the phone or in a meeting and the other person suddenly says, ‘Got to go, thanks a lot,’ and then disappears. You're left feeling short-changed and confused. You may wonder if your presence even mattered to the other person.

Some years ago, a recruiter interviewed me by telephone for an interim role and opened the call with: ‘Let's skip the niceties. Your CV looks good. I haven't got much time. Just tell me who's the most senior person you've worked with and how much money they saved by working with you.’ Whoa, this comment, before I'd had a chance to say ‘Good morning’, left me feeling uncomfortable for the whole interview.

First impressions

In Body Language For Dummies (Wiley), personal impact coach Elizabeth Kuhnke offers a wealth of advice for engaging with and influencing others. In particular, she reminds readers of the old adage that you never have a second chance to make a first impression. Meeting potential clients for the first time is an interview-type meeting in which they decide if you're the best coach ...