Your new employer asks you to attend a networking event at the Chamber of Commerce.  She wants you to meet people, put forth a positive attitude, and let people know about your place of employment and what your company does.

The first thing you do in preparation for the event is to retrieve your copy of Outfluence, The Better Way to Influence, and turn to Chapter 20, which focuses on Your Personal Presentation.  There you will be reminded about silent communicators that you will want to be aware of.

Before you enter the event you will want to reinforce five specific Outfluence behaviors:

•         Smile

•         Make your greeting memorable

•         Listen

•         Think of others before thinking of yourself

•         Inspire your performance

Now we’re coming to the application of all your preparation: contact with the people you want to Outfluence.  How do you begin to use the knowledge you’ve gained? Vince Clews, a respected writer, producer, and director says he employs Outfluence by, “Simply being honest about who I am, what I do, and what the person I’m working with, selling to, or working for can expect me to deliver. In the final analysis, it comes down to honest, personal interaction. It’s the same whether it’s work-related or in personal situations.”

In the charming movie, Phenomenon, John Travolta played the role of a small-business owner. One star-filled evening he was walking along the sidewalk when a searing burst of light struck his head. It left him with a whopper of a headache, but also with the intellect of a genius and the memory of a supercomputer. Certain activities in which he engaged caused the FBI to test his intellect. During the test, he found himself telekinetically moving a pencil back and forth across a tabletop. The examiner asked him how he was doing that, and the Travolta character replied, “I just tell it to move with my mind.”

This analogy describes perfectly how Outfluence is implemented. An Outfluencer attempts over time to persuade a person to respond in a desired way. An Outfluencer moves

a person honestly, sincerely, and strategically with integrity and good intentions. Travolta’s Phenomenon character was a good person whose only desire was to share his astonishing

gift with his neighbors. His neighbors were suspicious for a while. After all, in today’s society people are not accustomed to displays of generosity delivered without expectation. Outfluence

does just that and thereby is a phenomenon of its own.  Everyone uses telekinetic energy every day. Instead of using it to move pencils, we use it to move people. We either attract or repel them. Energy can be physical; you see it and it touches you. Sometimes energy translates into sound and you hear it. It can also touch other senses without being seen or heard, such as warmth. Sometimes energy touches us emotionally and evokes human feelings. This is the energy of Outfluence. Outfluence touches emotion and moves people.  Accomplish that at the Chamber event and your employer will take notice, and she might even put you on the fast track to advancement in her company.