Episode 192: “What Richard Branson Can Teach You About Networking”

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Synopsis

Someone recently asked Dr. Misner about the importance of eye contact to networking, and what came to mind was his experience meeting Sir Richard Branson, who has absolute laser focus on anyone he meets. The only person in the room is the person he’s talking to, even when that person is a fifteen-year-old boy. (Listen to Episode 25 to hear about how Dr. Misner met Sir Richard Branson.)

How many times have you been at a networking meeting and noticed the person you’re talking to looking over your shoulder to see whether there’s someone more interesting to talk to? Make an effort to maintain eye contact and give people your undivided attention. It’s one of the skills of a master networker.

You can see the photograph of Sir Richard Branson talking to Dr. Misner’s son Trey on the Networking Entrepreneur blog.

Brought to you by Networking Now.

Complete Transcription of BNI Podcast Episode 192 -

Priscilla:
Hello everyone and welcome back to The Official BNI Podcast brought to you by NetworkingNow.com, the leading site on the net for networking downloadables. I am Priscilla Rice, and I am coming to you from Live Oak Recording Studio in Berkley, CA. I am joined today by the Founder and Chairman of BNI, Dr. Ivan Misner.

Hi Ivan. How are you and where are you today?

Ivan:
Well, this week, Priscilla, I am in India of all places. We have dozens of chapters in India. This is my first visit to the country and I will be doing presentations in Mumbai and Bangalor.

Priscilla:
Wow. That is great. Will you do some podcasting about what you learn in India?

Ivan:
Absolutely. That is a great idea. I will do that in upcoming podcasts.

Priscilla:
Okay. Good. So what are you here to share with us today?

Ivan:
Today I want to talk about what I think Richard Branson can teach us all about networking. I recently had a phone conversation with someone who was writing a book on eye contact and he asked me about eye contact and how important it is to networking. I said it is very important. He said, “Can you give me an example?”

I thought and it struck me that I had a photograph of this very thing that I was talking about. I looked it up and sure enough, there it was. I had an opportunity. I met Branson on his island, Necar Island a few years back. In my book, Networking Like a Pro, I talk about the butterfly effect in networking and how one thing led to another thing which led to another thing where I met Branson. As a matter of fact, it’s one of the podcasts here. If you, the listener, do a podcast search of “butterfly effect”, you’ll see the original podcast where I talk about that.

Well, about six months later, I had a chance to see Richard again. One of the things that I was amazed with was sort of his laser-focused eye contact. When he is talking to you, he is not looking to his left, not looking to his right. He is not looking anywhere else but right at you. I remember talking to him on Necar about children, raising kids and about my son, Trey, who at the time was about 15. He was sharp as a tack but about as committed to school as some teenagers are- not as much as they could be.

A few months later, I saw Richard. It was about six months after I was on Necar. It was at a party that I had been invited to to roll out Virgin Galactic’s space plan. We were at the party and I introduced Richard to my son. Branson remembered who Trey was, which was really amazing as he meets so many people, and my previous conversation. I have this photograph of him where he has this laser eye contact with my son and kept that eye contact with Trey for three or four minutes straight while he was talking to him.

There were people all around, and they were all vying for his attention, of course. But he was completely focused on a conversation that he was having with a 15-year old boy. You know, he wasn’t intense in terms of his speaking. He was actually pretty calm and pretty relaxed. But in terms of his focus and listening to what Trey was saying. The only person in that room during that three or four minute time span for Branson was my son.

Here is a guy who didn’t go to college, and he’s telling my son, interestingly enough, “Go to college. I spoke with your dad. We have faith in you. You can do this. You can really go places.” His message was great, and to this day, I appreciate what he had to say. But what I really learned from him was this ability to maintain that laser eye contact.

You have to keep in mind. My son is a teenager. He isn’t impressed by anybody. At least, like the typical teenager, he doesn’t make a habit of showing he is particularly impressed by anybody. Usually, I’ll ask him what his impression of somebody was and I’ll get sort of a bored, “Yeah, he’s okay.” But he was really impressed with Richard. I asked him what he thought of the conversation, and he had a very uncharacteristic response.

He said, “ That was really amazing. It was a really interesting conversation and he really seemed to pay attention to what I said.” He felt that way because here is this billionaire who gives this kid his undivided attention for a few minutes.

I think we can all learn from that. How many times have we been at networking meetings, talking to somebody and we can see them looking over your shoulder to somebody else. They look to the left and to the right. They are obviously scanning the room for somebody else that they want to talk to, and they are not giving you their undivided attention.

Let me tell you something. There were people at that event who were much more important in Richard Branson’s life than my 15-year old son, but you wouldn’t have known it. The photograph is a great photograph because he has his complete attention with Trey.

That is the kind of attention that we need to give people when we are talking to people and when we are networking with them. Eye contact is meaningful. I think giving people your undivided attention is on of things you can do to become a master networker. Making a concentrated effort to maintain eye contact while engaging in conversation is imperative in order to demonstrate to somebody that they are really getting your undivided attention.

So next time you are at a BNI meeting or networking at other events with someone and there are distractions all around you, tempting you to have your eye stray to other people who might be important, think of this story. Think of how Branson was so good at maintaining that laser focus on a person. Keep that in mind if you would like to be a true master at networking. It is an important technique that you can utilize to help achieve that.

That is my story for today, Priscilla.

Priscilla:
That is a great story. I just want to add that in the blog, which I read, even when he went to the next person, he did the same thing. So it wasn’t just that he had a kind of a passion for talking to your son, Trey because of what he knew about him, he applied that to everybody that he came in contact with.

Ivan:
Yeah. That is a really good point that I left out. He did. That is his MO. He really does his best to give you his undivided attention. That is kind of unusual with anyone, but somebody as successful as Richard- I think it’s really not the norm. Here is somebody who is very good at social capital. His emotional intelligence is as strong as anybody I have ever met, and I have met a fair number of people in the networking business.

If someone wants to see the photograph that I am talking about, they can go to NetworkingEntrepreneur.com. It is my blog. Go to December 20, 2010. Go take a look at the photograph, and you’ll see exactly what I am talking about. Thanks Priscilla.

Priscilla:
Okay. You are so welcome. Well, listeners, I would like to just remind the you that this podcast has been brought to you by NetworkingNow.com, which is the leading site on the net for networking downloadables. Thank you so much for listening. This is Priscilla Rice and we hope you will join us next week for another exciting episode of The Official BNI Podcast.