3 Party F-Ups

MichaelRoderick
Jul 21, 2017 · 3 min read

The weather is getting nice for the most part here in the city that never stops and with that nice weather comes party season.

Parties are a very interesting social experiment.

Most of the time they are fairly crowded and present an obstacle course of bodies, drinks, and furniture and also the opportunity for many people to mingle who may not get a chance to mingle in any other scenario.

In fact, when I attend any one of these parties, I’m reminded of the line from The Great Gatsby:

There are only the pursued, the pursuing, the busy, and the tired”

Every time I attend a party, I encounter those who everyone wants to meet, those trying to meet everyone, those who have 6,000 things going on, and those who want to leave and being the observer that I am I have come up with 3 things I’d recommend you NOT do at a party.

1. Bruce Willis’ing People- If you never saw The Sixth Sense *Spoilers Ahead* In the film Bruce Willis meets a little boy who tells him that he can see dead people. Bruce Willis helps the boy throughout the movie before realizing that he is dead himself.

How does this work in a party setting?

Once I was having a conversation with someone and in one instant, someone comes over and starts a completely different conversation with them completely ignoring me. I stand there like a sad ghost watching the conversation, not sure if I should interrupt or just go to the bar or the bathroom. They Bruce Willis’d me.

The alternative: All this person had to do was take a second to introduce themselves to me and we all would have been able to have a conversation rather than me being Bruced.

2. Card to the face- I remember being at an opening night party for a Broadway show and I was talking to one of the investors. Another producer came up to us and interrupted our conversation. As soon as the investor turned to him to say hello she was staring down her nose at his business card which he released from his pocket so fast, I worried that he might take her eye out.

She looked down at the card and took it looking like she had just been asked to pick up a turd.

The alternative: This producer could have waited until the investor either asked for his card or he could have offered it. He probably would have had a warmer response.

3. The Tom Brady Treatment- You may have seen this sad scene before on the interwebs. I remember being at a fundraiser and seeing the organizer for the event. I came over to say hello and the second someone that he deemed more important walked into the room, he literally turned his back to me and started talking to the other person.

The alternative: He could have simply asked to be excused or even invited the person over to where we were chatting. Instead, he left me there like Tom Brady, waiting for my high five.

Each of these party F-ups is fairly easy to avoid with a little bit of self-awareness.

So the next time you’re at a party, avoid these scenarios and you’re much more likely to be the one pursued.

Excelsior!

P.S. If you enjoyed this post, I write a daily email on relationship building, messaging, and business. You can join the party HERE and I promise to never Bruce Willis you :)

ShareShare 3 Party F-Ups

Comment

ShareShare 3 Party F-Ups

)

MichaelRoderick
Welcome to a place where words matter. On Medium, smart voices and original ideas take center stage - with no ads in sight. Watch
Follow all the topics you care about, and we’ll deliver the best stories for you to your homepage and inbox. Explore
Get unlimited access to the best stories on Medium — and support writers while you’re at it. Just $5/month. Upgrade