Would you rather sign up for a root canal than pick up the phone and make a cold call? Born to Schmooze! TM can help. Born to Schmooze! is a two-part training designed to help you feel more at ease when you meet new people or encounter people you know in new settings. With the tools you learn in the training, you’ll be able to break the ice and express the value of your work clearly and memorably.
Companies participating in Born to Schmooze! training include Bay Area Financial, Solzer & Hail, Apple Computer, Graebel/Erickson Movers, Sun Microsystems, and
Great Brands of Europe.
You’ll discover:
- How to choose a networking event
- Cold calling techniques that cut down on call reluctance
- Tips for dealing with “schmoozing nightmares”
Born to Schmooze! is the brainchild of Ideas Made Real director Laynie Tzena,
whose background includes college teaching (her degrees are from the University
of Massachusetts and the University of Michigan), as well as marketing and public relations work.
Tzena, an “outgoing shy person,” is out to redefine schmoozing. “The word ‘schmooze’ has fallen on hard times,” she notes. “Born to Schmooze! recaptures the original meaning of the word, which has nothing to do with being slick or putting something over on someone. Where I come from, one might say to a friend, ‘I haven’t seen you for a while. Let’s get together and schmooze.’ The closest we have to that in English is, ‘Let’s get together and catch up.’ I like the definition of schmoozing given in The Goy’s Guide to Yiddish: ‘to talk or chat in a warm, intimate way.’ I see schmoozing in a business setting as the intersection of conversation, commerce, and community.”
Marketing coaching is one of the services Ideas Made Real provides. In helping clients
to develop effective marketing programs, Tzena found that many of them shied away from networking and cold calling out of nervousness. She designed Born to Schmooze!—first as individual and then group training—to address those needs.
As a teacher, Tzena knew that repetition and practice were both essential for retaining information. Born to Schmooze!’s format allows participants to learn networking principles, go out and use them, and come back to get fine-tuning. Tzena is also a writer and performer, and has coached performers in dealing with stage fright. The principles she uses in that work also inform the Born to Schmooze! training.
For more information about Born to Schmooze! and other Ideas Made Real trainings, contact Laynie Tzena at 415/796-3969
Born to Schmooze!TM is a trademark of Ideas Made Real. All Rights Reserved.
