BRINGING FACE-TO-FACE BACK

As opposed to bringing sexy back try the Face-to-Face meeting. I rediscovered its power yesterday while running errands. The age of the text, instant message, Skype has assaulted the most archaic and effective form of communication – the FACE-TO-FACE meeting.

Could it be that our highly communicative society is anything but, choosing instead to hide behind faceless and emotionless encoding? Have we traded quality for expediency when it comes to touching base about everything from movie showtimes to break-ups to petitions? Are we afraid to talk to each other?

I decided yesterday that I would “drop in” on some places to show my face. I just turned up at these selected places as ideas flowed related to what I do as the founder of 6ixth Man. And you know what drove the impetus? It was the value that I myself place on face-to-face interaction. What do I take more seriously, a text or a phone call. ASNWER: A phone call. But if someone I know calls, which do I prefer, lunch over a Terriyaki chicken sandwich or the phone call? ANSWER: The Terriyaki.

I tested this method unintentionally simply because I was already out to breakfast with a friend when I realized I wanted to inquire about getting my character curriculum into a local private school, a local community center and a local private university. I said to myself, “Self, put dem big boy undies on homie and go talk to the Powers that be.” It’s harder to ignore a human standing in front of you breathing your air than it is to ignore an IM or a text. In my case, I found that FACE-TO-FACE is still primary, complete with the accent of smiles, gestures, voice inflection and eye contact. Granted your cold call could be an interruption. But if you play the FACE-TO-FACE carefully, you’ll almost always ensure that what you’re trying to communicate is decoded successfully. Better to say things once the right way in person than to wonder if someone deemed you insensitive, crazy or unimportant because they receive hundreds of posts, texts and IMs everyday.