Jim Fannin’s 90 second rule makes a lot of sense. Watch the video. It’s 7 minutes and 15 seconds.

Here’s the gist:

If you’ve been away from someone you care about at least 2 hours, the next 90 seconds have a bigger impact on them than spending hours and hours on them later. Walk in the door and be fully engaged in the moment. Regardless of your day prepare to focus your energy toward the people that matter most. See their every facial and hand gesture. Hear every voice tone or inflection. And if the person you meet is sad, then use a technique inside the 90 second rule called mirroring. Act sad so you can show empathy. Now you can raise them to a higher level of positivity. If the person you meet is happy, be just as happy to keep their level of positivity the same.

Investing those first 90 seconds says:

I love you
I care about you
I value you
I need you in my life

This has been VERY true for me. When I see my friends that I haven’t seen in a long time, I always give them my full attention for at least a few minutes. Then I can reconnect with another friend, and another friend, and another friend.

I do the same thing with my brothers and my other family.

I just never thought of the importance of this connection time before I watched this little video.

What do you think?

Can you use this tip to build upon your most important relationships?

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Note from Phil: I’m always curious how the best do what they do. Bill Clinton is the BEST connection artist I’ve ever seen, and though I don’t agree with all of his personal foibles, I have to admire the way he made everyone around him be connected to him quickly and effectively. I always wondered what tips he would share. Of course, I wasn’t able to get to him to ask him, but I was able to get one of his former intern’s insight, and now I can share that with you. Enjoy!

Love him or loathe him, you can’t deny that Bill Clinton is a masterful connection artist. I’ve seen him in action many times, and he’s a wonder to behold. How does he do it? How can he connect with people who despise him, and within a few minutes have them laughing, hugging, and listening closely to him? 

During the time I worked for the president as a White House intern, I watched him closely, trying to figure out his secret. The first thing I noticed was that he always paid very close attention to how other people were feeling. If they retreated emotionally during an exchange, he immediately reengaged them and brought them back on course. He had an infinite number of techniques, but these were the ones I saw him use most often: 

1. He told a story. This was far less intrusive — and way more effective — than making his point directly. And his story would always evoke specific emotions from the listeners — laughter, anger, compassion — that would help them connect with what he was communicating.

2. He made physical contact. On many occasions, he would place his hand on your shoulder, back, or forearm as he spoke, passing his energy on to you kinetically. 

3. He remembered your name. This one baffled and amazed me. The number of people a president meets in the course of one year in office is overwhelming. He couldn’t possibly remember them all. Yet if Clinton met you on more than a few occasions, he would retain your name perfectly and use it every time he spoke to you. Which brings us to the next point. 

4. He called you by name. Whether he remembered it or had to glance down quickly at your name badge, he would make sure to call you by name more than once in the course of his conversation with you. During one of the recent post-term visits I had with him, he walked into the room and said warmly, “Sean, boy am I glad to see you.” Someone once told me that the sound of our own name spoken in a loving tone is one of the most soothing sounds we can ever hear. I agree. 

5. He made deep eye contact with you. Once President Clinton’s eyes locked onto yours, they didn’t leave until the interaction was complete. In all my years of talking to celebrities, from sports icons and Hollywood starlets to business moguls and politicians, few have used this technique with such finesse. Most of these ego-monsters can’t hold the connection more than a few seconds before they start scanning the room for someone more important to talk to than the person right in front of them. Yuck! 

6. He used his facial expressions to convey his emotional state. President Clinton would greet you with a smile in his eyes on a joyous occasion, and with sad eyes and an expression of empathy in moments of devastation. If he was upset about something, it showed on his face like a summer storm. I’m sure there were times, as there are for all of us, when he felt one emotion and projected another. But he never seemed false around me — he was always successful in conveying the emotion he wanted to show. 

7. He calibrated his vocal inflections and volume based on the amount of rapport he had established. If the rapport was strong, he would be more boisterous in his volume. If it was weak, he would have a more soft-spoken demeanor. Simple, but effective. 

8. He asked for your opinion. The first time the president turned to me and asked, “Sean, what are your thoughts on that?” I thought, “Did he just ask me for my opinion?” Whether he asked because he really wanted to know or because he knew it was tremendously flattering to be asked a question by the leader of the free world, I’m not exactly sure. I do know that it felt good, and I remember it to this day. Humans love to give their opinions on things. On those rare occasions when we are actually asked our thoughts on something — and we are listened to — it makes us feel tremendously important. 

9. He chose his words wisely. Never once did I catch President Clinton taking the verbal low road, slinging slang with disregard. He carefully selected every word to create just the right expression he was looking for. 

10. He praised you publicly any chance he got. On July 24, 1998, 1 was attending an event in the Rose Garden, when out of the blue the president said, “I’d also like to thank Sean Stephenson, [Boys Nation] class of 1996, now an intern in Cabinet Affairs. Thank you for what you are doing here.” Then he nodded and smiled in my direction. Was he doing that because it was standard protocol, or because he really was truly grateful for my service at the White House? I’m going to choose to believe the latter. It felt great. 

Sometimes I affectionately refer to President Clinton’s gift of connecting to those who don’t like him as “the carwash phenomenon.” Dignitaries and their families — specifically the ones who were skeptical and unfriendly toward him — would enter the White House through the East Wing gates, often with expressions of disdain. They would take a tour of all the public areas and then work their way over to the president’s office in the West Wing, to meet with him. A few hours later, when they exited the White House through the West Wing gates, they looked completely different. It was as if President Clinton, like a cosmic car wash, had magically washed away their scowls and replaced them with expressions of pure relaxation. Absolutely remarkable! 

It’s been said that Clinton’s greatest skill is his ability to communicate. I would disagree. I believe his strongest suit is being able to connect. 

The above is an excerpt from the book Get Off Your “But”: How to End Self-Sabotage and Stand Up for Yourself by Sean Stephenson. The above excerpt is a digitally scanned reproduction of text from print. Although this excerpt has been proofread, occasional errors may appear due to the scanning process. Please refer to the finished book for accuracy.

Excerpted from Get Off Your “But” by Sean Stephenson. Copyright © 2009 by John Wiley & Sons. Reprinted with permission of the publisher, John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

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Life requires maintenance. If you don’t do the maintenance, your life is going to fall apart, or you’ll have to burn the place down.

Wow!

I don’t like maintenance. Maintenance is hard work. I often put it off and procrastinate my maintenance. I don’t do it on purpose, I just DO.

Can you relate?

So I thought about the various aspects of my life, and I thought about how I could maintain them. Maybe they’ll be helpful for you too?

Relationships need maintenance. You have to care and feed the folks in your family and in your network, or they will forget about you or find ways to live without you.

Spirituality needs maintenance. You have to keep refreshing it by plugging into it every day or you’ll lose it.

Health needs maintenance. If you don’t eat right, or exercise regularly, your health will soon detiorate, and if you wait too long, it will be too late.

Skills need maintenance to stay useful. You have to sharpen your saw or you will become dull.

What in your life needs maintenance? Whatever it is, make sure you give it some attention today!

Photo credit: Kiwi NZ

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