Win the Crowd

What Hacker News says

1. timo614Oct 2016
   I'm a fan of the book "Win the Crowd: Unlock the Secrets of Influence, Charisma, and Showmanship" - https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0060742054 Written by Steve Cohen, a magician, on the subject of charisma and effective speaking to groups of people.

   I personally believe that networking, at its core, is an exercise in effective speaking. The goal of it being to convince the other party you're interesting enough to warrant further conversations.

   I'd say the main areas of personal development to increase networking ability would be:

   - Effective speaking

   - Charisma

   - Interpersonal communication

   - Strong personal interests

   This is all my opinion but I think with those four elements anyone can succeed at networking with enough effort.

   I liked the definition here of the third item: http://www.pstcc.edu/facstaff/dking/interpr.htm

   It's especially important to understand that a networking situation is a professional environment. I've networked with others before at events who immediately jump to some of the most inappropriate subjects and it just blows my mind. I think the prevalence of alcohol at these events leads people to that but it's just so unprofessional. I think if there's alcohol at a networking event people should just carry the same glass around all night. If you want people to listen to you being coherent and aware of social cues is key.

   The last item is really just about having something to talk about. I was part of a coed business fraternity back in college and whenever we did pledge drives people would come to network with us to show their interest in joining. I remember how the ones who had the least to say seemed like they weren't doing anything outside of their subject of interest. Interests allow people to relate to others and gives them the ability to have something to say when communication has died down.

   Again, just my personal opinion, and others may disagree which is fine. I grew up with social anxiety disorder which was so bad that I couldn't look at others in the eyes until late in high school without having anxiety attacks. I worked my way out of it by forcing myself into situations that made me uncomfortable and by looking into books like the one above to get ideas about how to communicate. The most important thing to do to become better at networking is to just go out and network -- nothing beats real experience.

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2. timo614Apr 2013
   It really depends on what facet of business you think she'd be interested in.

   To be honest I think better than any specific business resource out there would be to just get her on the path to building the core skills she'll use later on in life. She's already got that started with her vending business which is great. I think pushing her towards taking on some school activities may be great too. Things where she can help organize events and fundraisers and really contribute to a group.

   As for my favorite books on business I would suggest for a 13 year old:

   "Death by Meeting" The author describes a fictional company that is terrible at conducting meetings until the main character comes and helps address the issues. I know she's not really running meetings at the moment so this may be of less use to her until she has others working along side her. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0787968056

   I also agree that "How to Win Friends and Influence People" is an excellent book. I grew up with social anxiety disorder and it was one of the books that really broke me out of my shell and gave me the confidence to really push past it. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0671723650

   Another book I found pretty interesting was "Win the Crowd." While not a 'business' book, per se, it goes into how to really grab your audience's attention and hold it. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0060742054

   Lastly "Secrets of Powers Negotiating" is an interesting book I'd suggest she take a look at. There are endless applications to negotiation in business from sales to even negotiating your first salary. http://www.amazon.com/Secrets-Power-Negotiating-15th-Anniver...

   Just some ideas -- hope it helps!

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3. tedd4uJun 2022
   Yep! I’m sure Rowling did that intentionally. By the way, Haaretz says:

   “Abracadabra belongs to Aramaic, a Semitic language that shares many of the same grammar rules as Hebrew, says Cohen in Win the Crowd.

   ‘Abra' is the Aramaic equivalent of the Hebrew 'avra,' meaning, 'I will create. ' While 'cadabra' is the Aramaic equivalent of the Hebrew 'kedoobar,' meaning 'as was spoken.”

   https://www.haaretz.com/2013-05-08/ty-article/word-of-the-da...

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