184 Improve your Communication Skills • Arrive early . One of the best ways to manage groups is to be in at the start of one. • Use previous contacts . Everyone you speak to early in the event is a potential ‘joiner’ later: use one as a link person if you want to join a group. • Judge the tightness of the group . How closely are people standing to each other? How is their eye contact? Can you see an opening, or is the group broadcasting its exclusivity by turning all backs on the rest of the room? • Exploit fractures . Conversations rarely survive being extended beyond three people. Groups of four or more will either be audiences, listening to a single, dominant person, or mini-groups in the process of splintering from the main group. You could join the audience; or you could look for two people talking and gently insinuate yourself as a third. • Pick off stragglers . Not everyone in the group will be entirely ‘in the circle’. Find someone at the edge – perhaps they are looking as if they want an excuse to move on – and approach them. • Use listening time to establish your presence . Make eye contact; respond to what someone is saying with smiles and nods. Ask a question as your first contribution: it’s a good way to enter a conversation without being too rude. • Ask permission . Find different ways of asking permission to enter new space. Excuse me, I don’t mean to interrupt, but I overheard you talking about… Forgive me for interrupting, but am I right in thinking
