When dining with a client or investor, let them set the tone. By waiting to order, you can match their lead on whether to get starters, the price point of entrees, and the overall length of the meal, demonstrating your social awareness.
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Most salespeople fear silence and rush to fill it, appearing insecure. By intentionally embracing silence, you reframe it as a tool. It signals confidence, gives the buyer critical time to process information, and, like a pause in a performance, can make them lean in and pay closer attention.
Proper etiquette isn't just about politeness; it's a practical skill for managing stress and projecting calm confidence in high-stakes environments. This mindset helps you appear more trustworthy and approachable, preventing you from seeming desperate or transactional.
Even when dining with someone much wealthier who invited you, offering to pay is a key sign of respect. They will almost certainly decline, but the gesture reframes the interaction as one between equals rather than a hierarchical one.
Instead of open-ended agenda items like "let's do intros," propose specific time frames, such as "Let me give you 90 seconds on me, you can give me 90 seconds on you." This small framing tactic establishes you as a professional who respects time, prevents conversations from meandering, and maintains control of the meeting's flow.
If your natural communication style can be misconstrued (e.g., direct, quiet, transactional), preface interactions by explicitly stating it. For example, "I tend to go straight to action mode." This provides crucial context, manages others' perceptions, and gives you permission to be authentic.
Formal cultural diligence can be staged. A more authentic assessment comes from informal settings. Observing how a target CEO and their team treat service staff reveals their true character and provides a powerful, unfiltered indicator of cultural compatibility or potential red flags for integration.
People are practiced and guarded during formal meetings. To understand their true nature, Negreanu suggests engaging with them in informal environments like a meal or drinks. This disarms them, making their reactions more authentic and revealing.
Genuine rapport isn't built on small talk; it's built by recognizing and addressing the other person's immediate emotional state. To connect, you must first help them with what's on their mind before introducing your own agenda.
The most valuable, long-term relationships at conferences are not made during official sessions but in informal settings like dinners or excursions. Actively inviting people to these outside activities is key to building deeper connections that last for years.
Even for extroverts, large, loud conference parties are ineffective for meaningful business conversations. Smaller, more intimate events like dinners provide a better environment for building genuine relationships, gathering informal customer references, and discussing strategic business challenges in a relaxed setting.
