CREDIT: STOCK PHOTO
Face-to-face meetings are an important tool in networking.

Recently, while I was en route to a business meeting at a downtown restaurant, a colleague sent me a text message to let me know she had arrived early and was sitting at a back table. I didn't get the message — when I told her I don't text, she stared at me as if I had three heads. I know — I am probably the only person within the walls of this college who doesn't text (and I am sure that habit will someday soon grab me with its claws and never loosen its grip).

However, the very fact that I was doing business face-to-face — as old-school as it sounds — was a feather in my cap. Sadly, personal business relationships — and for that matter, relationships of any sort — suffer today due to electronic communications (Skype chats with Grandma in Florida are the exception). In fact, my telephone — which 10 years ago would ring off the hook each day with client enquiries and return calls — has morphed into nothing more than a desk ornament. I estimate that 60 per cent of my business communications stem from email. When the phone does ring, I usually spill my coffee and never pick up before my voicemail grabs the call.

Even more rare is the face-toface meeting, and that is unfortunate since there is no more valuable business tool. Working in the media relations field, I can tell you that without an in-person conversation — no matter how brief — with a local journalist, the chances of that reporter using one of my media releases is slim. There is no substitute for meeting face-to-face.

Yet not every businessperson embraces an up-close-and-personal conversation. I once took the time to hand-deliver a story I had written for a magazine (this was before email, but there was still the option to fax the piece), just so I could say hello to a new editor. Despite the fact I had called ahead and warned this overworked scribe of my visit, she spit out a soliloquy of profanities in front of her staff, mumbling something about how busy she was and that she had no time for me. Such is the nature of the industry, but it still goes to show you how the art of face-to-face communication is not easily mastered.

I'm hooked on the hit TV show Nashville, so on that note, here are some tips from The Nashville Business Journal regarding face-to-face encounters:

- Make your moments together count.

- Pay attention by listening for the unspoken emotions.

- Honour the other person's space and time. Get to the point quickly. Ask for the right action. Be clear and be specific. Don't take 20 minutes when you only asked for 10.

- Prepare ahead of time.

- Watch your body language. Control your facial expressions. Don't fidget, act nervous, express fear or allow your posture to convey uncertainty or overconfidence.

- Be sincere and authentic. Speak in your authentic voice.

- Maintain the power of the floor. If you see signs you are no longer the centre of attention, break the flow.

- Ask for feedback. Balanced feedback allows people to be relaxed. However, maintain your self-control. Ask for specific feedback about the points you raised.

I have to admit, some of these tips have me laughing out loud (in real time, not LOL — sorry, as a non-texting human I could not resist). "Make your moments together count" and "listening for the unspoken emotions" sound like Hallmark greeting cards. And I've lost count of how many times someone has asked for 10 minutes of my time and taken 20 minutes. Rule of thumb: take a time request, and then multiply it by two.

One of my New Year's resolutions is to make a concerted effort to connect with the business community via face-to-face meetings. I've joined additional professional groups and committees, and have already lined up in-person interviews for gathering quotes for print and online magazines which, in the past, I would have tackled via telephone.

Just remember: if I ask for 10 minutes of your time, count on 20 minutes. And if your coffee is good, I may stay for a half hour. Just don't text me if you're running late. A call to my cell phone will do.

Award-winning journalist Jeffrey Reed is a Fanshawe College professor with the Corporate Communication and Public Relations post-graduate program and an instructor with Fanshawe's Continuing Education department. Email him at jreed@fanshawec.ca.