One of the questions
I hate being asked
at parties and other networking events
is
“What do you do?”
When I was between jobs,
it was especially tough,
and now that I write,
and I like to keep my pen name private,
I either lie
or I downplay the truth.
“Do say:
“What are you really excited about right now?”
Don’t say:
“What do you do?”
One of the reasons that
so many people dread networking events
is because of the “What do you do?” question.
We generally hate to describe what we do
and rarely have a way to share it
that we’re happy with.
Asking the alternative question
about what someone is excited about now
is rarely hard to talk about.
Most people will have an answer
to that question that is far more interesting
than the recitation of their job title and company.
More importantly,
when anyone shares something
they are excited about,
their tone changes
and the conversation improves right away.”
Do the world a favor
and ditch the
“What do you do?” question.