I learnt a lot about making connections when I was giving a presentation to an industry association conference in Osaka, Japan, a while back.

All presentations were being translated simultaneously between English and Japanese.

The Japanese take their responsibilities as hosts of such a major international conference very seriously and their natural formality made it very difficult to ascertain their true response to most presentations.

A single word made the connection

One speaker, however, completely broke through the audience reserve and generated smiles and murmurs of delight with a single word.

The word was “Konnichiwa“.

A simple “Hello” inexpertly pronounced, but in their own language, created a stronger connection than any number of words expertly translated.

Whether we are making a formal presentation, leading a team or serving a customer, the key to building a relationship is making a connection.

There won’t often be a single word which can make that connection but communicating from the other person’s perspective rather than your own will always produce better results in any of your business (or personal) relationships.