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Welcome to the Impact Sales Podcast. I'm your host Joe Beck,
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founder of The Sales Activist, and today's episode we have
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a very popular topic that we're going to be talking
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about today. I get this question a lot, and today
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we're going to be talking all about creating massive sales
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results when you're an introvert. That's right, when you're an introvert.
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We get this a lot at the Sales Activist, people
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asking us about selling when you're an introvert, where you're
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not that outspoken or that comfortable talking with people. Well,
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today we're going to talk all about that topic and
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how you can generate massive sales results even if you're
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an introvert. So don't go anywhere, we'll be right back.
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Welcome back to the Impact Sales Podcast. I'm your host,
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Joe Beck, founder of The Sales Activist, and today we're
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going to be talking all about creating massive sales results
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even when you're an introvert. That's right, even when you're
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an introvert. See, I've been in sales my entire career
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thirty five plus years, done it all and seen it all.
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And one of the questions that I get very very
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often from people both in corporate environments, in the solopreneur space,
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just people reaching out and asking this question is, you know,
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how can I be successful in sales when I'm a
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natural introvert. I'm somebody who's not comfortable reaching out. I'm
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somebody who's not comfortable being out in front of people.
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And today we're going to talk all about how you
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can break through that limiting belief, how you can put
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yourself in a place where you could be successful in
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selling even if you are in fact an introvert. So
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for many people, they get hung up on a lot
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of different things that might hold them back from sales success.
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Some of these things are legitimate challenges or obstacles that
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they need to work through, and one of them can
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be when somebody is naturally introverted. They're not necessarily comfortable
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reaching out to people, they aren't necessarily comfortable initiating conversations
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or engagement with other individuals. They're naturally introverted. This happens
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for a lot of people because you know, not everybody
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is born with a comfortable personality towards outreach or towards
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getting uncomfortable and putting themselves in a position where they're
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engaging new people. So for those of you that are
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natural introverts or people that struggle with this in their business,
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today's going to be a very very important episode. I
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like to start an episode like this with really breaking
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down a stereotype or a misunderstanding in regards to sales.
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Many times people think that individuals are natural born salespeople,
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like they just were born with the natural ability of
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selling professionally, and there couldn't be anything further from the truth.
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You know, sales is not unlike any other skilled profession.
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It can be learned, taught, you can coach people on it,
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it can be developed and honed over time for yourself.
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And a lot of people struggle with that because they
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have this it's almost a coping mechanism and excuse where
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they say, well, I'm not a natural born salesperson. I'm
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not comfortable doing those things. And you know, everybody who's
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ever been successful in selling has put themselves in a
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place where they've learned how to get better at their craft.
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They've developed those skills. And what that tells us is
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no matter who you are, even if you're an introvert,
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you can be successful in selling. So that's the first
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thing you need to know and understand. Okay, nobody is
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born a natural salesperson. People learn, they gather information, and
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they improve their skill set and as a result of
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that they are good in selling. So if you're an introvert,
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if you're somebody who is uncomfortable or naturally additionally nervous
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about reaching out to people, engaging people, communicating with people,
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I'm telling you right now you can work through that. Now.
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In addition to recognizing and acknowledging that there is no
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such thing as a born salesperson, the other thing that
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you need to acknowledge. And this is just the case
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for everybody you know. If somebody you know is an
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introvert or struggle with outreach, sometimes how they perceive themselves
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in the process can make all the difference in their results.
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And here's what I mean. Many times people think when
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they're selling that the focus is on them, that the
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focus is on what they're doing, what they're saying, their salesmanship,
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you know, how they present themselves, and it does play
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a role, I'm not gonna deny that, but it plays
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a much smaller role than the other person. As a
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part of that interaction, the prospect, the client, the person
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that you're speaking to or presenting to. So for introverts,
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for people that struggle with putting themselves out there, and
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this includes sales, you need to first recognize that the
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number one thing that you need to do, and this
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is going to come as something that relax you, is
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you put that emphasis on the other person. You make
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it all about them. Now, that will not only take
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the pressure off of you in the work that you do,
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but it actually puts you very much aligned with where
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you should be focusing as it relates to your sales process.
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See a lot of people think that sales is all
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about what you say and what you do and how
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you present and your confidence and your sales ability, and
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I'm going to tell you it's the exact opposite. I've
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seen people that have been wildly successful in selling, and
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when you first look at them and you first hear them,
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you would be shocked. You just would be amazed that
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they're capable of performing at the level that they are.
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And the reason is they have aligned themselves with the
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most important thing. They understand that it's not about them.
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It's not about what they do, what they offer, how
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it works. Those things matter, but they matter to such
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a small degree that it doesn't impact their success. What
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does impact their success? And listen up, all you introverts,
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what does impact their success is being able to put
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the focus solely on their prospect, their client, the people
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that they're interacting with. Now, how does that happen? What
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does that look like? Well, if you are an introvert,
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you probably have already learned this little tidbit right, this
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life skill. You want to try to get the person
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that you're interacting with or talking to talking more than
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you're talking. And if you're a natural introvert, or if
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you're uncomfortable engaging people, once you do break the ice
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and you do get that initial conversation started, the easiest
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thing for you to do in the world, because it's
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most comfortable for you as an introvert, is to get
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the other person talking, get them talking about themselves, what
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they do, what they need, what they're looking for. Because
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if they're talking, you don't have to be right. You
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get to listen. You get to play that comfortable role
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of listening and engaging only when necessary and being a
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part of that conversation but not carrying the burden of it. See,
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that's where a lot of introverts struggle. They feel that
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the burden of the conversation, the burden of the interaction,
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rests on their shoulders, And I'm here to tell you
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that it doesn't. I'm here to remove all of those
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bricks that are stacked up on your shoulders related to
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selling as an introvert because you think it's all about you,
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and it isn't. It doesn't have to be about you.
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It shouldn't be about you. It should be about your prospects.
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So if you're an introvert and you're hearing that, I
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want you to take a deep breath, exhale and realize
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the pressure isn't on you. It really truly isn't. And
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I mean that sincerely. I want you to all understand that,
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because if you can embrace that mindset, it becomes that
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much easier for you to sell and create amazing results
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as a sales professional, versus you carrying that burden of
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thinking that you have to constantly be shouldering at all yourself.
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You don't. It is really up to them, the other
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person that you're interacting with, to do the majority of
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the work. Now, how you make that happen requires you
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to become very good at certain things. And for some
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of you who are introverts, whether you recognize this or not,
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you probably are already pretty good at this next topic
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because it's a life skill. It's a coping mechanism when
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you're an introvert. And I know this because long before
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I ever was in professional selling, I was very introverted.
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I know people that know me and have known me
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for a long time might disagree with that, but I'm
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going to tell you I would be incredibly uncomfortable. I
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would be nervous. I had intense call reluctance. I struggled
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picking up the phone and calling people. I struggled walking
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up to somebody and engaging them in conversation. It made
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me nervous. It almost sometimes almost made me feel nauseous
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going through that. But what I realized over time, with
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a lot of support and training, that it wasn't about me.
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It was about the other person. And I learned this
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one particular skill that changed everything for me. And it
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was the skill of asking impactful questions of the people
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that I was speaking with. See, when you ask impactful questions,
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when you put it out there in front of somebody
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and you ask something of them that requires them to respond,
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the pressure shifts to them and you are now gathering information.
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You are gathering data. Now you're also doing a couple
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of other things that will make you wildly successful in selling.
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Whether you knew it or not, you are starting to
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earn their trust and starting to build what I call
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to be the most important thing that you need to do,
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building that trusted advisor status. See when you ask questions
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of people and they're open ended questions that require them
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to respond in detail, and you start gathering that information
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and then maybe you have to ask a very short
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qualifying question to learn a little bit more, and then
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they respond some more, you're building up your trusted advisors
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status in the eyes of that person. And let's just
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take a step out of a business environment, a selling environment,
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and let me give you an example in a personal way. See,
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if you're interacting with somebody on a personal level, a
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friend of family members, somebody that you know, an acquaintance,
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and your conversation is entirely about you, and it's all
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about you, it's me, me, me, the whole way through.
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Are they really engaged with you or are you just ranting? Right?
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But if you ask a question and they respond and
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then you clarify it, maybe ask a follow up question
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and they respond, and that goes on for a little bit.
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You're actually engaging in a productive conversation. Now at some
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point they might turn around and then ask you a question.
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But the key when you're an introvert to be able
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to break through that is to make sure that you're
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leading with the questions. You're directing it with the questions,
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because the more they talk, the more pressure is off
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of you at the beginning of the interaction. And the
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one thing that I will tell you that I've noticed
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as a recovering introvert, as somebody that had previously been
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an introvert, the sooner I could get people talking, the
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more comfortable I became. The sooner I could get people talking,
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the more comfortable I became. Once they started talking, I
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could catch my breath, I could focus much more easily.
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The other skill that's really important to recognize is when
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you get people talking first and they're sharing information with you,
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it solves one of the biggest problems that introverts carry
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with them. It's the question of what am I going
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to talk about? What am I going to say? What
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am I going to what am I going to put
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out there. Well, if they are answering questions and talking
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about things, they're giving you what to talk about. They're
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sharing with you what's important. They're telling you what they need,
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want desire, what problems they have, what solutions they feel
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they need. They're telling you all of this stuff. And
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that's so important to an introvert because when you're an introvert,
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if somebody shares with you the topics, if they share
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with you what's important, it becomes that much easier for
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you to get comfortable talking about those things. Because if
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you don't have that to work with and maybe this
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will resonate with you when I describe this, If you
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don't have that to work with, and you personally are
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sourcing for what to talk about, what to say, how
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to engage them when it comes to the meaningful part
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of the dialogue. See, that puts a lot of pressure
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on you as an introvert, right, that puts those bricks
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back on the shoulders. It just feels like you're way
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down and hard for you to break through that. But
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by flipping that script and asking some impactful questions to
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kind of jump start the conversation, you find yourself in
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a place that they are doing a lot of the
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work for you. They are doing the heavy lifting. And
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I want you to think of another example. You know,
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when when you're ever in a public setting, or you're
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in an environment where it requires you to interact with people,
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and you're an introvert, the hardest question to lead with
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is the first one. Everything after that, if done the
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right way, will get easier. It's that first one, Okay,
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that first question, that first output that you share with somebody.
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So how you go about doing that, And when you're
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an introvert, is you make the first question an easier
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warm up question, and then as you get comfortable, you
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may make your follow up questions a little bit more
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detail oriented, a little bit more specific, because you now
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know kind of what to work with. But see, for
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a lot of people, they feel that that burden rests
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with them, like they have to know what to say