Beware - Borders and Boundaries

Title:Beware - Borders and BoundariesWord Count:434Summary:Have you ever had someone get right up in your facewhen they are talking to you? So close in fact thata letter \"S' results in an unwanted shower? Oftenwhen we are out networking, we find ourselves in

a loud environment as people try to talk louderto be heard over people trying to talk louder tobe heard. This results in a roar that makesregular conversation difficult.Keywords:networking, manners, etiquette, psychologyArticle Body:Have you ever had someone get right up in your facewhen they are talking to you? So close in fact thata letter \"S' results in an unwanted shower? Oftenwhen we are out networking, we find ourselves ina loud environment as people try to talk louderto be heard over people trying to talk louder tobe heard. This results in a roar that makesregular conversation difficult.The temptation in this atmosphere is to get veryclose to another person so they can hear you and

you them. This can result in being too close toanother person sometimes making them veryuncomfortable. This discomfort is heightenedwhen we have been consuming alcohol and the personwe are talking to have not.Each of us has our own comfort zone boundary. Thisis a space around us that when another personenters we begin to feel uncomfortable. A good wayto relate to this is to remember if you have everhad an argument where someone got right up in yourface and possibly even pointed their finger verynear to it. Remember how that made you feel? Inmost cases it makes a person feel more angry.In a networking environment it is important tomaintain a distance from a person that you aretalking to. This distance should be almost an armslength. Most peoples comfort boundary is aboutthe length of their arm. If you find yourselfgetting very close to someone in conversation,imagine if you raised your arm and that is the

distance that you should be from the other person.If they move closer to you in the course ofconversation, it is acceptable to them to becloser. If it is acceptable to you then continuewith the conversation at that distance.You can sometimes tell if you are standing tooclose to someone if they seem to be moving backwhile you are talking to them. If they appear tobe getting further away from you, do not move tobe closer to them. They will stop when they reachthe distance that they are comfortable with. Ifthey turn and walk away of course it is time tofind someone else to talk to.To be most effective in your attempts to buildrelationships with others, it is most importantto keep these things in mind. Remember that itmakes no difference what you say to a person ifthey are not engaged in the conversation. Goodobservance of boundaries can give you the edge youneed to make networking work.