introducing themselves to complete strangers.

Even when they're at an event

where that's the norm, like a trade show.

How do you do that?

How do you stop and engage a complete stranger?

We'll have some tips coming up next.

(up tempo music)

Hello, I'm David Spark and welcome to

Corporate Video Critics, media tips

for communications professionals.

Today's we're talking about engaging

with strangers, and most commonly, at trade shows.

I went to the E2MA Conference and

talked to a bunch of experts on

this very subject and they give

some pretty darn good advice on how to do just that.

I want you to watch the video and,

at the end, in about two minutes,

I'm going to have a killer tip for you

about how to engage with people at an event.

- [Spark] How do you walk up to a

complete stranger and initiate engagement?

What's your technique?

- I simply go up and introduce myself.

- You know that's always the awkward

part for people, isn't it?

You know, how do I engage a stranger?

- Listen, listen, listen, and be interested.

- And, for me, what's always been

successful, is put yourself about

and ask questions and don't tell

them anything about yourself unless they ask you.

- Seek to understand rather than be understood.

And so you go in with humility

and you seek to understand and

you just genuinely engage somebody.

- I try to ask them questions

and I find that a lot more effective.

People like to tell their story.

I'm helping them do that.

- And really engage them with the

intent of learning more about them

rather than with the intent of

trying to sell them something.

Because once you take interest

in them personally, then the rest will flow naturally.

- Keep in mind that the people

we're a little uncomfortable to meet, these strangers,

they have paid money and traveled a great distance

to come and talk to people like us.

So we have our story to tell.

And they're there to investigate what

their options are, to see if we're a good fit.

We may have to get through 15 or 20

"no thank you's" to find a couple of

the "yes, please, we'd like to talk to you."

- The way it's easiest for me is

I start asking my known sources

about questions that they may be

able to introduce me to somebody that I don't know.

And use my own known sources to

introduce me to new people.

And I try to do the same for them as well.

- Generally, one thing I've always learned,

anywhere near the bar, there's always

going to be something interesting going on.

The whole vibe around the bar is

a great place to find people that

are laughing, happy, and maybe willing to engage.

So it doesn't take long, generally if

you're wandering around the bar,

to get into a conversation with somebody.

And then if you show interest in them,

rather than focusing on yourself, people always open up.

- My very last piece of advice,

if you want to engage with people is

to connect with people standing in line.

People standing in line are two things:

One, and most importantly, they're a captive audience,

they're not going to run away from you.

Two, they're bored.

They're standing in line and they're

waiting for something else to happen.

Like, they're standing in line for a drink,

they're standing in line for food,

they're standing in line to go to some kind of a show.

This is a very, very key place to

stop and engage with people and, well,

have a very positive conversation, hopefully.

If you want to learn more about trade shows,

we have more videos on that very subject,

plus if you want to qualify more leads at trade shows,

I suggest you pick up a copy of my book,

"Three Feet From Seven Figures:

One-on-One Engagement Techniques

to Qualify More Leads at Trade Shows."

It's available at threefeetbook.com.

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