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I have this irritating friend who has obviously read ‘How to win friends and influence people’ – the issue is that she appears to have based her entire personality upon the book. Which, after you've spent some time with her, soon becomes bloody irritating.
Flirting is a brilliant skill in life, and especially in PR. It seems to me that the core element of Dale Carnegie's classic is the ability to make people feel great, which in essence is flirting!
So here are my top tips for flirting with clients, journalists and colleagues:
1. Use your eyes. Flirty people have a sparkle in their eyes. I don’t know how you get that sparkle to be honest, but I know that winking doesn’t work.
2. Don’t be sleazy. Flirting is not about sex, it is about making people feel good about themselves. So don’t make inappropriate comments, rather react to what your target is saying and pay them attention in a nice way. That means no touching!
3. Don’t talk about yourself. Flirting is all about the other person. Listen to them and act fascinated and delighted by what they say. When I say “act”, don’t put on a big performance, as amateur dramatics does not work. Falling off your chair with laughter at a bad joke is not going to endear you to anyone.
4. Use social media. Retweet their tweets and like their Facebook updates. Show that you think whatever they utter is pure gold, whether in real life or online.
5. Pay compliments. Try not to make them back-handed ones. Saying “you must have been gorgeous when you were young”, is not a good idea.
6. Have good manners. Good manners go a long way, and this means holding open doors, offering seats, offering to pay first. Of course, this applies to both sexes.
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