Salzburg during the festival – an exhibition is opening in the museum, a gallery owner invites you right next door, a new restaurant is being inaugurated there, a jeweller is organising a cocktail, a wine tasting is taking place there, an author is presenting his book. One social event chases the other and the visitors chase after it, daily, hourly. Multiple changes of clothes during the day included, the range of events is large and clothing appropriate to the occasion is required. Unless you're the festival director, then a black outfit is enough.
Our guest author Mag. Eva von Schilgen takes a critical and sometimes quite sarcastic look at social life and small talk in the festival city of Salzburg.
"How are you?" asks the blind man to a lame man. "As you see," answers the lame man. (Georg Christoph Lichtenberg, 1742 – 1799, founder of the German-language aphorism)
The whole city is not only a "stage" but also a huge social pool in which many a rare and strange little fish cavort. Apart from the fact that you can eat Prosecco and appetizers cheaply – albeit very one-sidedly – at these times, it is mainly used by many to renew old contacts or to meet new people. Because none of the eager event visitors, and especially event visitors, have been able to credibly explain to me the incredible variety of his/her interests in the very different events at which I met him/her.
Festival guests in Hofstallgasse in front of the Grosses Festspielhaus | © Tourismus Salzburg / G. Breitegger
But not every "Festival Rally" is crowned with success. To save you "idle time", here are some useful tips that of course also prove themselves in other places:
1. If possible, check with the hosts or organizers to find out who will be present at the event. This will help you determine where it is worth appearing for you.
2. If you are attending an event with an escort, separate at the entrance if possible. This gives you the opportunity to meet twice as many people in the same amount of time.
3. Now head for the next guest standing alone, smiling. With such a friendly greeting, he will probably ask if he hasn't met you before.
4. Your most important equipment is the business card, on which your name, your e-mail and web address as well as your telephone number are written – clearly legible, because no one wants to have to use a magnifying glass to decipher it. If you are from
If you want to be visually remembered by your counterpart for professional reasons, a professionally photographed portrait may also decorate the card, if possible from recent years due to recognition.
5. If your vis-à-vis does not have a business card with him, it is either a very prominent person or someone who does not know the social etiquette that is important to you. You shouldn't spend too long on both, the first will probably not be of much interest in you and the second will probably not be of any use to you.
6. Follow the example of the Americans, who are masters of small talk, and clarify the origin, profession and reason for the presence of your conversation partner as quickly as possible, also in order not to lose valuable time. However, you can only ask the question of the amount of his income in America.
7. Under no circumstances should you gossip about the opera or theatre performances that have just taken place in Salzburg, unless you have adopted the opinion of the established critics after studying the newspaper in the morning.
8. Be charming and give plenty of praise. Optimists and generous people attract others, but never flirt, somewhere in the room the partner of your counterpart can also be "looking for contact" and suddenly appear at your place.
9. Do not mock those present, even if their behavior is strange, the clothes are crazy, the jewelry is wrong and the appearance is disfigured by numerous cosmetic operations, they could be close acquaintances of your vis-à-vis.
Reading tips is good – testing tips in a practical seminar is better! – See the dates of the "Power of the Voice in Business" seminars with Arno Fischbacher here
10. Don't talk too much about yourself and your successes. If they are very large, you may be considered a loudmouth. If you understate, the other person will lose interest in you.
11. Limit the conversation with a new conversation partner to a certain time, but avoid looking at the stopwatch.
12. Archiving: If possible, sort the "captured" business cards on the same day and note the reason for your encounter on them.
13. Post-processing: Even with the largest address file, you can remain very lonely. Therefore, regularly maintain contact with those people who seem important to you, even if they are only congratulations at the turn of the year.
14. And the rest? Sometimes there is a second chance in life, sometimes you will run into each other again – in some gallery, in a museum, at a wine tasting, an author reading or...
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Arno Fischbacher is a business voice coach and rhetoric expert, speaker and author. He prepares executives and employees of the top companies in Germany and Austria for negotiations, presentations and media appearances. Fischbacher is the author of several books, past president of the German Speakers Association (GSA) Austria, chairman of the European Network of Voice Experts, stimme.at.
If you would like to learn more about specific training opportunities with Arno Fischbacher, make an appointment here free information talk.
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