It’s not every day I get to meet the CEO of a highly-influential technology company, but the other day I did. Philippe Roche from Alioscopy USA came to town and even though I have been working with his team for many months it was not until last Monday that we met in person.
Mr. Roche is an intelligent and interesting person who also happens to be a savvy Frenchman. I was warned by friends before the meeting that there is a stereotype about Americans being arrogant and gauche. Arrogant I can deal with, but gauche?! Pleeeeez. I decided to prove my friends wrong and determinedly tried not to be gauche whatsoever and in so doing…was more gauche than ever. Yes, I just used gauche 4 times in a sentence.
Un, Deaux, Trois…
Here’s a few helpful tips you may want to consider the next time you are going to meet the CEO of a company:
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Whatever you do, DO NOT, I repeat, DO NOT experiment with new hair products before your meeting particularly products that say ’shine’ or ‘gloss’ on the bottle. |
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Remember to try your pants on in advance to make sure they fit especially if your meeting happens to be a few weeks after the holiday season as a few pounds or say, ten pounds, may have snuck up on you. |
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Make an effort to minimize the usage of the words “cool” and “like” to just once every 30 minutes instead of every 5 minutes. |
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Do the pre-meeting crumb and stain check. This is very important especially if you have small children because you never know if you will have a blueberry hand print on your back. |
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Avoid eating onions, scallions, chives or anything in the allium family before your meeting unless of course you are being introduced to the CEO of TheOnion.com (har har). |
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Refrain from shouting. The exception to this tip would be if you are telling a story about “Blue in Spanish” and absolutely must shout “BLUE! IN! SPANISH!” for effect. |
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Try really really hard not to burp, but if you must…turn AWAY from the CEO, lift the coinciding arm up (but not too far up or it will look like you are sniffing for something) and mock *cough* burp into your sleeve. |
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When saying good bye and thanking the CEO for his (or her) time, look where you are going. The possibility that you may kick trash, walk into a light post or fall over a chair is quite high. |
About the author Sara Richardson-McCreery is a 12-year veteran Web designer with proven expertise in custom Web site design, development and usability for clients ranging from big brands to start-up organizations. She is the creative director for
Spike Likes LLC, an award-winning Web design company.
