Interview - Lou Diamond

Lou Diamond is the Founder and CEO of THRIVE, a company focused on making the most amazing people, businesses, and brands become even more amazing through the power of connecting. He is a dynamic speaker, a master connector, a top sales performer, and a performance mentor. He is also a bestselling author who has published two books, Master The Art of Connecting and Speak Easy.

In this interview, we are focusing on connecting with people. The virtual world has been a great in-between to be able to connect with others, but in-person events give us a different level of connection by being able to shake people’s hands and talk to them face to face. Now that we are slowly getting back to doing in-person events again, everybody feels the energy of all of us being together and realizes how important connection is in our world.

One thing that Lou Diamond loves about events is being able to connect with the people within our network. He calls it connect-working. What makes in-person events great is that we get to listen to different opinions, have good conversations, and learn from others in a very quick way. Lou believes that if you go to a lot of events and do well in this environment, you can maximize incredible opportunities and take them to the next level. “They [in-person events] really are irreplaceable from anything else that we have.”

The epicenter of every single connection we make in our life is a conversation. In Lou’s podcast, they say this amazing tagline that goes, “Be brief, be bright, be gone.” According to Lou, it’s how you need to utilize every connect-working opportunity you have with people. But, is there a wrong way to network? Lou shares three things that spoil a connect-working environment:

1. You start talking about yourself. When a conversation is mostly about what you do or your company, you are not going to necessarily connect with someone. You want to be asking and listening. Learn about the person you’re talking to. Understand their problems and see how you can help them.

2. You do the giraffe head. Another way to break a connection is when you’re talking to someone and all of a sudden you see the person you’ve been trying to talk to for months so you stick your head up to see where they’re going. When you’re out meeting with people in person, it is important to stay in the moment and try to stay focused.

3. The business card drop. It’s when you stick out your business card without the other person actually asking for it. Giving your business card or your contact information should be something that has to be earned and permission-based to be given to.

Connect working is not only an art, it’s a sense of appreciation of everything that’s going on at an event. Great connect workers are the ones that understand the agenda, the key speakers, and the purpose of why everyone is at that event. But how do you make yourself memorable and be able to connect with someone successfully? Lou suggests connecting with a V.O.I.C.E. before any conversation.

V – Visualize. Visualize how you want the conversation to go so that you can establish a good connection. 

O – Opportunity. Appreciate the opportunity you have to connect with another individual and treat every conversation as a gift.

I – Identity. In sales, leadership, connecting, or anytime you meet with somebody, know the identity you need to be or the role you have to play in that conversation.

C – Charisma. Unleash who you are. The most memorable thing about you is what’s something special inside of you, whatever it might be.

E –  Energy. You have to raise the energy when you’re connect-working because nobody wants a dull or ineffectual conversation.

Event planners can get lost in wanting to jam-pack the event agenda with so much great content which ends up overwhelming the attendees. According to Lou, it is essential to set up events with windows of time for connecting and networking. Space the date out appropriately, enable these opportunities and create these situations to get people to connect with one another. He also suggests bringing in speakers that don’t just speak from the stage but also get the audience involved. “If event planners shape a day that engages the people in the audience, they’ll have that much more of a memorable time.”

While many events or meetings have gone live again, quite a few are still virtual. Some event planners plan to continue doing some of these events virtually so they can reach people from all over the world. Lou says it is still possible to network or connect with someone when you’re on a screen. One way is to utilize the chatbox so everyone can interact, engage, and share feedback. It is also important to encourage people to be on camera. However, it is hard to stare at the screen for long periods of time so make sure to give breaks in between. Provide breakout rooms so people can engage with one another. Keep them active and involved. Otherwise, they’re just going to slump in their chair, turn their gadgets off, or do something else while they’re at it.

Speakers prepare for events. They will rehearse, do research, and understand their audience to make sure they can connect with them. Lou’s advice for event planners is to encourage the audience to do the same. Give them as much information ahead of time so they know who that speaker might be and what content is going to be covered. Get them to participate or ask certain questions. Tell them who else is coming so they can prepare to connect. Give free opportunities or giveaways. Keep them engaged before they even get to the event so that they’re excited to be there. If the audience feels they were looked out for and their needs were attended to, that’s how they’re going to come back and be excited to attend your next event.

Lou Diamond offers business consulting, keynote speaking, and workshops for entrepreneurs and corporations. He also has an amazing podcast called Thrive LouD dedicated to inspiring people to reach their peak potential by connecting them to people who are thriving every day in business and in life. For more information, make sure you visit his website at www.thriveloud.com.