All the Fun of the Face-to-Face Meeting

My Twitter bio states that “I prefer writing to talking”.

Generally, this is a preference that doesn’t just work well for me. It also offers a helpful service to others.

In writing, I’m confident that I come across as mildly polished and professional.  But that’s a fragile veneer that shatters in face-to-face meetings.

I’m much more articulate here than I would be if we were sitting across from each-other in a coffee shop, you see.  And since you’re reading this instead of hearing it, you’re spared all the “ums”, “ahs”, and slightly awkward silences that characterise a typical conversation.

You’re also spared the silly little slip-ups that I tend to make in face-to-face meetings.  Like an important job interview, which began with me folding my coat neatly over the back of a chair.  Then a waterfall of loose change tumbled out of the pockets, clanging loudly onto the floor.

Or the recent client meeting in which my ballpoint pen suddenly stopped working.  I clicked the top a few times, and the ink chamber sprang into the air, narrowly missing my client’s face.

A clumsy all-rounder

The clumsiness isn’t just physical.  I speak before I think… or, as an old mentor once put it, “you tend to let your mouth run away with you”.  He said this over 20 years ago, but I still haven’t quite managed to tame that tendency.

I’ll be the one who asks the most inappropriate question.  Or I’ll make an offhand comment that’s intended to be funny, but somehow manages to render the rest of the room silent.

I’ve often wondered if I do and say silly things in meetings on purpose.  Whether I’m subconsciously trying to lighten the mood, because I’m deeply uncomfortable with formality.

(I failed my driving test a grand total of seven times.  While I always drove well during my lessons, I’d mess up the tests in spectacular fashion.  I knew exactly what I was doing wrong, even as I was doing it.  But I felt powerless to change things).

Whatever the reason, as we’re gradually summoned back into meetings with actual people, I write this to warn anyone thinking about meeting me.

Use email instead.  You’ll be better off for it.

Indulge your inner writer

If you’d like to develop – or cultivate – a preference for writing rather than talking, my Wondrous Writing Hub opens its virtual doors on 7^th September.

Find out more here.   I’d also be very happy to chat with you about the course, or answer your questions (if you’re willing to brave a conversation with me, that is!)