Your friends are more than their job titles (and so are you)

I’ve noticed a worrisome trend in San Francisco. It goes something like this: You’re walking down the street with Jim. In the distance you see your friend Sarah. You wave and introduce Sarah to Jim:

“Hi Sarah! Jim, this is Sarah, she’s a engineer at Instabrunch. Sarah, this is Jim, he’s a PM at Facebabies.”

Your friends are more than their job titles! If you feel the need to offer more context than the person’s name here are few off-the-cuff ideas: mention a hobby they have in common, or how you two met, or an interesting fact about them.

Try introducing your friends by something other than their job title and let me know how it goes.

(It’s completely fine to introduce people and mention their job or employer if it’s in the context of work. You’re at a conference, or a networking event, etc. But, if you’re just out brunching, let’s keep work at the office.)