<h2>Lorraine K. Lee: Unforgettable Presence</h2>
<p>Lorraine K. Lee is passionate about helping ambitious professionals go from invisible to unforgettable in the modern workplace. She is recognized as a LinkedIn Top Voice in workplace communication and presence and spent over a decade as a founding editor at top tech firms like LinkedIn and Prezi, where she worked on core products including the LinkedIn Daily News module and LinkedIn Newsletters. She is the author of <a href="https://bookshop.org/a/90226/9781394281725">Unforgettable Presence: Get Seen, Gain Influence, and Catapult Your Career</a>.</p>
<p>Small talk. We all love to hate it – and we also know that most of us will end up in small talk with someone who’s got a lot of influence. It may be an executive or an external stakeholder. Either way, handling it well can open up doors. In this conversation, Lorraine and I detail how to make small talk go better.</p>
<h3>Key Points</h3>
<ul>
<li>Small talk is the starting point before a deeper relationship.</li>
<li>Most opportunities for executive small talk are predictable. Preparation will help you speak well.</li>
<li>Set the tone with positive energy. Rather than dominating the interaction or passively reacting to it, thread your conversations so each party shares equally.</li>
<li>At the office, be ready with a sentence or two about who you work with and what you’re working on. Relationships and outcomes are more memorable than titles.</li>
<li>At social events, share a hobby or interest and ask about theirs. Keep questions open-ended as you would with a friend.</li>
<li>Have a topic ready to go for quick interactions. Sharing a thought about a book or podcast that relates to your organization is a useful resource to have at the ready.</li>
<li>Review your go-to topics regularly so that you always have a relevant conversation topic.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Resources Mentioned</h3>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://bookshop.org/a/90226/9781394281725">Unforgettable Presence: Get Seen, Gain Influence, and Catapult Your Career</a> by Lorraine K. Lee</li>
</ul>
<h3>Interview Notes</h3>
<p><a href="https://coachingforleaders.com/mp-files/lorraine-k-lee-how-to-make-small-talk-with-executives.pdf/">Download my interview notes</a> in PDF format (free membership required).</p>
<h3>Related Episodes</h3>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://coachingforleaders.com/podcast/316/">Executive Presence with Your Elevator Speech, with Tom Henschel</a> (episode 316)</li>
<li><a href="https://coachingforleaders.com/podcast/talk-to-people-who-intimidate-you-shandy-welch/">How to Talk to People Who Intimidate You, with Shandy Welch</a> (episode 706)</li>
<li><a href="https://coachingforleaders.com/podcast/way-better-conversations-alison-wood-brooks/">A Key Tactic for Way Better Conversations, with Alison Wood Brooks</a> (episode 717)</li>
</ul>
<h3>Discover More</h3>
<p><a href="https://coachingforleaders.com/free">Activate your free membership</a> for full access to the entire library of interviews since 2011, searchable by topic. To accelerate your learning, uncover more inside <a href="https://coachingforleaders.com/plus">Coaching for Leaders Plus</a>.</p>


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