Improve Your Greetings!

Make them special, memorable, and effective

Think about how often you participate in a routine, long, familiar, forgettable, and repetitive greeting when you meet someone and start a conversation. 

It generally goes something like this:

Them: “Hi, how are you?” 

You:   “Fine, thanks, and you?” 

Them: “I am doing fine as well.”   

And so on…Blah, Blah, Blah, Blah. 

This screenplay is so tired and dull.  Everyone seems to simply go on automatic pilot… reciting the same useless words.  

The entire exchange becomes an insincere and meaningless filler.

I have become so tired of this and have often wondered why we keep reciting and participating in this ritual that has become so:

• Dull
• Monotonous
• Stale
• Stodgy
• Tedious
• Tiresome
• Trite
• Vapid
• Phony
• Insipid
• Boring
• Colorless
• Insane

Lately, it appears I have started to behave like Lucy in the Peanuts cartoon when she goes nuts and yells, “AAUGH!”

WHAT TO DO?

Let’s imagine that you could replace this proforma routine with something that is actually memorable and effective.  Suppose you could have the other person enormously pleased with you and your remarks? 

What are your thoughts about improving your greeting so much that everyone listening finds their smile, feels important, and is impressed with you? 

Consider the following question: who is everyone’s favorite subject? 

If you think about it, the answer is clearly themselves!

I believe that the single most important need that people have to be met (beyond survival) is to feel important, and that certainly still appears to be true!  In the famous words of Dale Carnegie who wrote in his 1936 book, How to Win Friends and Influence People, “Make the other person feel important and do it sincerely.

Further, think about how many people live much of their lives feeling unimportant, criticized, unloved, alone, unappreciated, insignificant, hurt, lonely, rejected, and/or emotionally malnourished!

So now imagine that you could make a few small and powerful changes in your greeting to others so that they begin to feel important!

You could:

• Freshen it up
• Make it more meaningful
• Help others to feel good

And you become more interesting to other people!

When someone asks, “How are you doing?” rather than saying, “Fine,” focus your attention on them and respond with any of the following:

• “I am glad to see you.”
• “I am happy to see you.”
• “I have been looking forward to meeting you.”
• “I am delighted to see you.”
• “I am tickled to see you.”
• “It’s terrific to see you.”
• “What a treat to meet you too.”
• “It’s lovely to meet you.”
• “It’s great connecting with you.”
• “I’ve heard great things about you.”

What is going on with these adjustments? How does this new greeting change the impact of your remarks?

• You are now making your greeting about them (their favorite subject)
• You are helping them to feel recognized and important
• You are making them feel special
• You are causing them to smile because this interchange feels good
• You are helping them to be impressed with you because this is new and different
• You made an impression and they will remember you!

Make a point of regularly crafting your new greetings with sincerity, making them fun, heartfelt, and all about them. 

You will enjoy the difference and so will they!