Posted By Donna Fisher on February 27, 2009

I share my office with my cats.  June usually sleeps on the desk curled up by the keyboard. And Hailey sleeps close by on the chair or stool or in her bed. Occasionally they will get up, stretch, reposition, but it’s usually a great working relationship.

And then there was yesterday.

I had a one-hour telephone interview that was being taped. I made sure that my headset was charged up, that I had a bottle of water on hand – I was ready. Everything was great. The interview was going well – great questions, great energy.

And then I hear June meow. She’s not sleeping quietly on my desk. She’s in the middle of the room looking at me with those big eyes. I reach over to pet her and attempt to shoo her out of the area.

Everything is fine for a little bit and then she’s back even louder. Afraid that she’s going to belt out another soulful meow, I reach over to pet her before she meows again. Before I know it I’m down on the floor, petting June in an attempt to keep her quiet – all the while – talking about the 6 key principles for networking success.

As I crawl around the office floor petting June, I talk about how the Power of Speaking up and the Power of Asking are critical skills to learn for effective networking. (Just in case you’re thinking, “Why doesn’t she just get June out of the room and close the door?” There is no door – the space is “loft-like” and although there are big open doorways, there’s no door! There’s just plenty of floor space for crawling around.)

At some point – for some reason – June eventually, peacefully goes off to the other side of the room and curls up to take a nap. And I continue on with the call talking about the Power of Praise and Appreciation and the Power of Giving.

And boy was I appreciative that June had calmed down and had not interrupted the recording. And then in thinking about the scenario afterwards (Wish someone had been videoing it, it could have been a “Funniest Home Video” winner!) I thought about how grateful I was that I could tend to June AND continue delivering the networking information.

It was a reminder of how important it is to really know your material. Thank goodness I didn’t need to look at any notes to answer the interviewer’s questions. Thanks goodness I have researched and taught this topic for so long that I can talk about it “in my sleep” (or while crawling on the floor with my cat).

What about you?

What are the topics that you can “talk about in your sleep”?

What are the topics in which you are developing an expertise?

In what arenas are you truly able to say that you “really know your material”?

Categories: Being True
Tags: cats, expertise, interview, Networking