RoAne's Rules:
How To Make The RIGHT Impression


by Susan RoAne
(click HERE for more infor about Susan)

On a late night television show, actor Ed Burns followed Tom Hanks… who stayed on the set. Ed Burns (The Brothers McMullen) turned to Tom and said, " I can't believe I am sitting here with you. When I was starting out in this business I worked as a gopher on E TV and three years before that worked for the company that gave the party for League of Their Own. And you asked me to bring you a cup of coffee". You could hear and see how Ed Burns felt about his career path and now he was sharing the stage with THE Tom Hanks.

Tom Hanks turned to him and said, "Please, tell me that I was nice to you." "Yes, you were very nice." Tom Hanks looked relieved and said he was glad. Here is a man with great acclaim, celebrity, career success and wealth and his first concern was that he was nice to this young man who had brought him coffee.

That, in a nutshell, is the RIGHT impression we want to leave with the people who cross our paths in the work world and in our personal, everyday life. I suggest that if it's good enough for Tom Hanks to be thought of as a nice guy in his industry… it's good enough for us.

The Power of NICE is a best-selling book on negotiating that focuses on just that …the power of nice. Whether it is negotiating a contract, planning a succession strategy or coordinating the marketing plan, being rude, crude or a bully does not establish connections nor make the best impression.

The RIGHT impression can also include many other traits: that we are competent, take charge, smart, collaborative, savvy, ethical, clever, effective, knowledgeable, perceptive, confident, reliable, a good listener and just plain fun.

RoAne's Rules: How To Make The RIGHT Impression covers the many 'sticky' situations in both our professional and personal lives as well as those that are just plain perplexing. They run the gamut of the events we attend, the office dynamic, speaking, toasting and introducing others, dealing with ornery characters that try our patience, the conversation killers, the complex world of gift-giving, the nuances of the online world and other situations that stump us.

Being NICE is not often discussed but certainly is at the core of SAVVY and memorable (in a good way) networking. The new MVP of the NFL, Boston Patriots quarterback, Terry Brady, recently received this headline in The San Francisco Chronicle's Sport Section: "Brady truly great--- and such a nice guy, too." Wouldn't we all want that to be said… and written about us?

Excerpt RoAne's Rules: How To Make the RIGHT Impression an audio book by Audio Renaissance

©RoAne 2004

Susan RoAne is an in-demand keynote speaker and best-selling author who has worked conventions,trade shows, meetings and the bleachers of Wrigley Field. Her best-selling books: How To Work A Room®, The Secrets of Savvy Networking and What Do I Say Next? and her audio-book, RoAne’s Rules: How To Make the RIGHT Impression, are available in local and on-line bookstores. Susan RoAne is the nation’s leading and original networking authority. Visit Susan's website at www.susanroane.com.