Networking Mastery: Transform Your Presence & Profit with Strategies for Business Growth and Financial Success with Michael A. Forman

0:00 So I'm quite curious, what's the biggest networking of mistake rather you see even seasoned professionals making well. There's always a level of what's in it for me. But let me go back to the first part of your question. What mistakes do I see being made? It's very easy. They talk, right? So if you're out there to learn about other people, if you're out there to give with a servant's heart, if you're out there to try to help everybody, one thing that's going to work against you, it's you talking, right?

0:32 You go out there and say as soon as you walk up to the table, you're talking, talking, talking, talking, talking, and you're not listening. So that's a number one mistake, probably the biggest mistake that people would make. Welcome to the Kingdoms podcast, where growth mindset meets leadership and business insights.

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1:40 We're live ladies and gentlemen, you once again welcome to the King James podcast and today I've got will meet a VVIP very special guest fighting out earth, Georgia, United States of America. Mick, welcome Michael, the award reading communications expert for man. How are you, Michael A Foreman? I am doing absolutely great and I'm so glad to be here today. Oh, wow, fantastic.

2:16 So I always like to do the bruise bar for, you know, announcement introduction for my guests. And you know, sometimes some of them think, OK, am I coming to fight? Here am IA Fighter now, before you know, the only foreman you know I used to know was Judge Foreman, you know, but now I know Michael A Foreman.

2:38 The only difference is is that he put an E between the R and the M with his informant. That's the only difference, the. Foreman Grill. It was a little bigger than I was, but you know besides that do you by? Any means use the Foreman grill, you know like I think it's kind of popular one. I used to use the Foreman grill and then what I, I, I went on from that.

3:03 But yeah, I used to use it. Oh wow, so So what do you use now? Actually I use a Ninja product that does the same thing. Come. On ninjas. And everybody. I know, I know. You know, like I was telling you before we started the, the podcast, I'm very, very big on gratitude and I always say that, you know, an attitude is good gratitude and anytime a person shares the time with you, they share their life with you because the SI unit for measuring life is time. So to start with, from me to you, a very, very big thank you to you for, you know, coming on board today to share your wealth of experience, you know, your very, very valuable knowledge, you know, with us today on the podcast. It means a lot to me and I'm

3:57 very, very grateful to you. Thank you very much and God bless you. So today, you know, I've said this many times on the podcast, the two set of people I appreciate the most in terms of service to humanity, those into healthcare and military service. And interestingly, you, you're top of the food chain. You know, you, you are a veteran, right? Networking strategist, you know, 2024 award-winning communications expert, keynote speaker, and of course, a published author.

4:34 You help professional networks, right? And you help people communicate for more profitability through your company, right? And of course, with your military background, US Air Force veteran, you have an extensive experience in sales, insurance, risk management, and corporate speaking. So you bring in a unique perspective on transforming business relationships from transactions to genuine connections.

5:03 So that is actually a wealth of experience. And this experience is the best teacher. And experience is earned. It is earned you you can't buy it. And that's why I am really, really grateful, immensely and intensely grateful to have you on the podcast today. I always say this, that my intention, you know, my goals on the podcast actually things to educate and to inspire. If I'm able to achieve those, I'm grateful. You know, this is an education category podcast. I'm not out here to entertain people. If you want to get entertained, you know we had to go to, but if you want to get edutained, stick around. There you.

5:53 Go Wow. So you know, I how to do my own research on you and come in full circle, right, Lincoln, you know what you stand for with what I stand for and what this podcast is about. You know, how did you come about? You know, this whole journey it's it's been multiple different experiences cross board, but the common denominator in my opinion, and please correct me if I'm wrong, is service, but how would you explain your journey? It's always, it's always service, right? 100 years ago when I started with the Air Force, I was in there for 9 years.

6:39 I was a police officer with them. I did very well one up in the ranks, but that's it's always service. After I got out of the Air Force, I went into my businesses. I went into, I had a graphic design studio, I had a pizzeria, a restaurant. I, you know, these are all things that I was in there for money, but I was in there.

7:02 I was also having a good time because I was helping everybody all right, enjoy what they wanted to. But when I got out of that, I went into the corporate world and I wanted to mortgages. I moved down to Georgia from New York and I got involved with the law firm, the director of sales and marketing. I did everything, but one thing I realised was with the mortgages and with the the law firm, I was the face of the companies.

7:29 I was giving the presentations, I was talking to the people, I was interacting with the customers, I was doing, I was doing all of it. So I said, you know what, why don't I just do it for myself? That's why I started. Yeah, you beat it. Other people's dreams. Absolutely, Absolutely. Your own empire.

7:50 Time. Time for me to build my empire, if you want to call it that. But you know, it's it was just it was very interesting journey. I loved the journey. I wouldn't change anything about it made me who I am today. You know, something that actually resonates and would I say is a connecting dot between yourself and myself.

8:10 And like I told you, I did my homework on you. I know more about you that you think I do. OK. I know you appreciate the arts and yes Sir, I know that you actually describe networking, you know, as an art form rather than just a business transaction. And do you want to know the title of my verifest book, The Art Mastering the Art of Entrepreneurship? Well, there you go.

8:40 The arts. The arts. It's the art of I chose networking, you chose entrepreneurship, so it's all the same. So I think I'm going to increase the price of my book before before you buy it because you have to buy that book. You've no other person on this planet buys that book. You have to buy it. You have to buy it at a premium.

9:05 Right, right. Of course, of course. You know, you know, it's a it's a really big connecting dot, right? I'm a social scientist, but I'm also this guy that appreciates the arts. Entrepreneurship business is a hybrid of an art and a business and and a science rather. But I'd like to for you to speak to that because a lot of people tend to just try to take it from the scientific aspect and ignore the art, and the art is what makes it beautiful. Well, you know we don't sell widgets, right? Give me 3 for a dollar.

9:44 I'm going to give you the widgets, right? That's all building your customer base before the pandemic, right? I'm going to switch it. It's half and half. Before the pandemic, everybody was interested in building their customer base. And the more customers they have, the better. It's not that way. Ever since the pandemic, I think more building of relationships is important, right?

10:09 So the, I used to go to a networking event when I was dealing with the mortgages or, or attorney firms or anything else like that. And I used to come home with a shoe box filled with business cards. Look how good I did. And you know what, that's wrong. It was all wrong. Right now, if I go to a three or 4 hour event, I say come home what 15 or 20 business cards because those are people that I spoke with that I got to know their background, that I got to really enjoy them.

10:45 So and of course that helps with the follow up. And I personally believe that the follow up is more important than actually meeting the person because that's where all the the business lies, right? You, if you follow up too much, too little, not enough, the wrong way, the right, there's so many different things that that really is what makes the business. I actually have the secret sauce of follow up, right. So when you meet somebody, if you use my ways of following up, you are I think 75%, you have 75% more of a chance of communicating with that person.

11:27 It goes from that that 2% to about 75%. You know, it's quite interesting what you're saying and I'm going to link it with a proverb from Nigeria, where I come from. I'm I'm really, really super proud of my country. And of course, big shout out to Nigeria and they've actually been very supportful and supportive to the podcast lately. We rose as high as #7 on the Apple podcast, you know, chats in Nigeria, you know this in Nigeria the carry last. So it me.

12:00 So there's this proverb in Europe, right, They say Ibericon, Lunisha, AFI, any Tobafo ET document. So translated, you know, it means it's not about who starts a job, right? Who starts a job or who starts an activity is not, you know, the prize winner. He's that's not the person that achieves the rewards.

12:25 It's a person who follows through to the end. So a lot of people are good starters, but follow up is what sees an activity is what sees a process right to the end. So some people are very good. Yeah, you meet at networking event, they tell you like they would wow you, but follow up zero. And what's the point having leads without having conversions?

12:56 Absolutely follow up is key to anyone's success and depends on how you do that follow up how successful you'll be. Absolutely. You know, you've actually worked with everyone you know, from investor clubs to trade shows. What patterns have you noticed in how successful networkers approach these different environments?

13:21 You know, you don't want to be salesy that salesman. You know, if you go to trade shows, that's what you're right. You know, that's all you have. You have come to my booth. You know, I've got everything. I've got just what you need, like you know, so you know that there's that that difference. But you have to throw that all away, right?

13:45 You have to bring in that feeling of building the relationship. So whether you're going to a networking event or if you're doing a trade show, trade shows a lot more difficult, right? But you have to figure out to combine the two and say, OK, I need to bring people into my booth, but I need to to create that rapport.

14:10 And you have what, 10 seconds, you know, in a, in a networking event, you have 30 seconds, maybe a minute. You know, that rapport is just so very important and how you do it is even more important. Now a little trick of the trade that I use is I use a, there's a word called form FO or that's family, occupation, recreation and a message.

14:38 Have that in the back of your head. So when you talk to that person, talk to them about husband, wife, sister, brother, son, daughter, whatever, that's the family. If if you hear something, you have to pick up on it. Hear something about them, you talk about that, their occupation, something about their job or recreation. That's my favourite, you know.

15:04 Oh, do you snow ski? Oh, do you boat? Oh, you play baseball? Oh, you know, right. I was a a manager for 16 years, I was an umpire for three years. I can talk to any about youth sports, right? So as soon as they go in that direction, I'll start talking to them about it. And. Before you know it, absolutely and before you know it, you're going to have ask them about their job, right, how they do their job, how well they do their job.

15:37 And after they say all this, now remember, here's the so important you don't say a word, you don't talk. It's called active listening, right? You listen to what they are saying. You don't try to come up with the next thing that you want to talk about, but you listen to what he's saying or she's saying and you and afterwards you say, you know something.

16:02 This is where having a servant's heart comes in. Say, you know something. I like you. I like what business you're doing. I like how you're doing it. How can I make you more successful? How can I be a good referral sort for you? And usually they throw them back like I don't even know what you do yet, you know, and here you are trying to help me. I said, yes, that's what I want.

16:30 That's what I'd like to do. So after you go through it, and by that time, you'll have to explain what you do and how you do it. But here's the here's the interesting part. You take his business card and you give him one of yours. You don't just leave that business card by itself. You write down the date, the name of the function, and something you spoke about because that will help you follow up later on.

16:59 Yeah, it's quite interesting what you're saying. We've actually discussed the same set of things and I use similar words on this podcast before. I reckon you should find the episode with Morgan Anderson and Sean Kidnatson. So there were two guests on the show at the same time and we were talking about business networking. So Morgan Anderson is the CEO of Golden Line Tax Solutions in your neck of the woods in America and her company was organising A networking events and the speed dial resourceful workshop for entrepreneurs.

17:39 And we're talking about business networking. And it's like we we, we took tricks from your playbook right there. It's going to be a really, really fantastic one for you to to go back to watch. It's really, really brilliant that your philosophies actually align with the philosophies and the ideals that this podcast promotes. And I'm grateful to having, you know, a person, a resource person like yourself on the platform. I think it just validates the the intensive research and hard work that you know, myself and my team put into this show. You know, why talk about networking for profitability, I wonder really ensure that our audience are on the same wavelength with us.

18:29 You talk about networking for profitability, what exactly do you mean And how is it different from just collecting business cards? You know, you talk about executive presence in your workshop, so how would you define that for someone who has never heard the term before? And what's the difference between networking and what you call genuine connections? OK.

18:52 So let's break this down a little bit further. Strategic networking, right? Listen, everybody goes to networking events. You go to a Chamber of Commerce event, you go somewhere else to network with people. And then after the networking event, you say, did I talk with anybody or who did I speak with or everything was very general strategic networking. It's going to network with a position. You knowing that, you say, OK, I need to to speak with these types of people.

19:27 You don't speak with them all the time, but you shorten your conversation with them. That's why I say only bring 15 or 20 only. You're only going to get 15 or 20 business cards because that's where you're going to follow up with. And I say you're going to increase your profitability because listen, if you figure out who you want to network with and people and you find out their backgrounds and you follow up with them properly, that's the keyword properly, you're going to increase your profits dramatically, probably within 30 days.

20:07 So you have the, the, the combination, the the variation of people who network, who go to networking events, just just a network or you have to people who strategically go and figure out who they want to talk to follow up with them properly and they'll increase their profits within 30 days. Now I'm thinking about members of our audience that I think in in their heads. These all sounds great, but I am an introvert or I hate I hate networking events or I don't know where to start. So for someone who breaks out in a cold sweat at the thought of walking into a networking event.

20:49 So what's your nuts and bolts method that you teach? I teach. It's very simple. Now let me let me back up a little bit when when I say going to networking events, I always say go alone. Don't go by yourself, right? You don't want to share credit, you don't want to share conversation. You won't do anything. You go by yourself.

21:11 This way you're not bothered by somebody that you came with and have to talk with them or something else because that's time, right? OK. Now for an introvert, very simple, bring somebody with you, bring somebody with you that knows you, knows what you don't knows all about you. So when you walk up to a networking table and that you have the conversation that comes around, first you figure out, is this a conversation I want to be a part of? If not, you politely go out, go to another table. If it is, you say you know something. You know that's a great subject.

21:49 You know what? Michael here knows a lot about that. Michael, why don't you tell us a little bit about it? Because that's like an introduction. So your fear of talking to all these people now has been limited because you're just talking because you're introduced, you're talking and you do that table to table to table.

22:10 Now I'm not saying that this will, I'm cured. I'm no longer an introvert, right? But if you do that like 3 times for like by the 5th event, you're going to say you know something, I'm ready to solo, I'm ready to go by myself and fly, right? Listen, everybody should network. Network I believe is the base of all businesses.

22:38 But one thing people don't do, they don't go out and do it, they don't network, right? My only suggestion, go out there and start go out there and network. Are you going to suck the first time you go out there? Yes you will. But you're but you're going to learn from it. You're going to learn what to say, what not to say anything else.

23:00 So by the next networking event, you're going to get a little bit better and a little bit better that a little bit better. And before you know it, you'll be a pro. That just aligns with what I ought to see on the forecast. Consistency is key. Absolutely. Yeah. So I love to weaponize consistency. It's pretty much the eighth wonder of the world. Just like Albert Einstein said, compound interest is the eighth wonder of the world.

23:25 Yeah, right. That's what consistency does. You know, you mentioned in your experience that you help people leverage their stories for business success. And, you know, why are stories so powerful in networking? And how can someone who thinks they don't have interesting stories discover them? OK, well, you know, what would you rather have somebody that tells you about themselves, about what they do whenever try everything is statistics and what they do and how they do it? Or do you want to hear somebody tell you a story about it? People remember stories.

24:01 They remember the people associated with the stories and they'll remember those stories far more than your statistics. So intertwining the two of them. And then of course, listen. If you're funny, then make a joke and put a little humour into it. If you're not funny, don't do it. Because people will know.

24:25 People know when you're absolutely, absolutely, but just try to try to put it on to a story because they will remember. Do you know what? I'm laughing because I have been in an event where a guy was telling a joke right? But I was laughing to the joke No, because the joke was funny, but because the joke was not funny. Well, the way is slippery his delivery. If you don't have a delivery, don't say the joke. You know, it's really simple and yeah, it's, it's true. And I, I remember plenty of times watching people forcing a joke and you're like, I don't want to deal with this. And the joke is on you.

25:10 And he sees you laughing, but he thinks you're laughing at joke when you're really not laughing at the joke, you're laughing at him. It's easy laughing, but he doesn't realise he's actually a laughing stock. And my my accountants, my accountants in the house will understand. I say that person has been declared a laughing stock in language IES 2, you know, IES 2 is international accounting standards that relates to stock, also known as inventory. So what kind of stock is this person? A laughing stock, you know.

25:42 Exactly. Now, he may be memorable to be a laughingstock, so you may have gotten the same thing across without trying. But you But don't try it. Don't. Don't do it. But please give them a for effort, you know? Right, right. It's better to try. So let's talk about the elephant. The elephant in the room. Rather, you know, a lot of people think that networking feels, in your words and at wildest laughing earlier, silly and inauthentic.

26:16 So how do you help people get past this mental barrier? Well, again, you're going there with a servant's heart. If you go there trying to give, trying to bring two people together, trying to refer, then all the pressure of what you have to sell is off your shoulders. You don't have to worry about being salesy because you're not selling anything, right? So one thing I, I talk, I go on stages and I talk about, I do, I go into businesses, I do workshops. And one point I'm always trying to bring to them is that people love to buy, but they hate to be sold to. Absolutely right.

27:01 People love agency. They want to feel in charge. Right. But they don't want to be sold to, you know, so, so if you take that part out of the equation and just people love to buy, well, then you just you're, you're, you're promoting that and you're, you're making everybody a lot happier. You know, I think this is where the real gold is for our audience and of course I want to challenge you a beat Michael because you have been in sales, insurance, risk management and now consulting.

27:38 That's a lot of carrier pivots. Was there ever a moment where you thought maybe I'm just not cut out for this business world? And how did you push through that? You know the networking industry is full of people teaching C stems and formulas, right? But what's broken about how networking is typically taught? And why do you think so many people struggle with it despite all of the advice that is out there? OK, well, one thing is, first of all, I'm a confident person. I've always been a confident person. So no matter what I tried, I'm going to succeed. No matter what.

28:16 Even if I fail, doesn't make a difference, I'm going to succeed. That was my, my, my thought, my, my mindset being a that's the number one thing with networking. You have to be confident. Now, I, I'm confident. I'm confident in losing money. I'm confident in a business not working, but I'm confident now.

28:37 I went to the school of Hard Knocks. In other words, I had to do everything wrong before I learned how to do it right. To do it right, Absolutely. I love that. I love that. I currently mentor about Yeah, 5 podcasters right now, and I see them leveraging on the experience that I've had. You know, Putin, these podcasts, I tell them I had to feel very fast, do a lot of things wrong, you know that, to discover what really works right. And you have nailed that.

29:08 I appreciate that. No problem. Failure is the number one teacher for success. Absolutely, but people are scared so you have to as a set back. Well, let me tell you, you know, the people who have never failed don't know what true success is because they don't know the feeling of failure. You know, because when I, when I go on, I think about everything that I've done that didn't really quite work out.

29:36 And I'm going to tell myself I'm not going to do that again. Yeah, that's just another way it doesn't work. Right, exactly, exactly. But that's the way I've, I've always been. I've always been a confident person. I've always never been afraid to go out and talk with anybody. And that really set me up to do what I'm doing today. That's a line in my philosophy big that you just aligned with. It's it's quite famous.

30:05 Fortune favours brave. Fortune favours the brave. Absolutely talking about, you know, the seas that you're talking about confident, be courageous, be creative and of course, be curious. And I I don't think this limits to to what you can achieve. I know you. You should agree with that, don't you?

30:23 Absolutely, absolutely. First of all, you have to be curious, right? You have to be confident. You have to be. You have to wonder what else you can do to become more successful, right? So first of all, I never stopped learning. If I don't learn something new every day, I feel like I failed, right? I want to learn something new every day, because I don't know it all right, But I can learn, and the more I know, the better I'm going to be.

30:55 When I'm talking, whether I'm instructing, whether I'm mentoring, it doesn't make a difference. The more knowledge I can amass, the better I'm going to be. You know, yeah, in a nutshell, curiosity, courage, creativity. Very important. Very, very important. And of course, confidence. Capsid So I'm quite curious what's the biggest networking if mistake rather you see even seasoned professionals making and you know, here's a tough one. You talk about genuine connections, but at the end of the day, you're still running a business right? And there's pressure on you to make profit. So how do you balance authenticity with the need to generate revenue?

31:45 And isn't there always going to be some level of what's a need for me? Well, there's always a level of what's in it for me. But let me go back to the first part of your question. What mistakes do I see being made? It's very easy. They talk, right? So if you're out there to learn about other people, if you're out there to give with a servant's heart, if you're out there to try to help everybody, one thing that's going to work against you, it's you talking, right? You go out there and say as soon as you walk up to the table, you're talking, talking, talking, talking, talking, and you're not listening.

32:27 So that's a number one mistake, probably the biggest mistake that people would make. Actively staying out. I've spoken about that, you know, very much on this show and I say there are four language skills for reason speaking, listening, reading and writing. A lot of people place too much premium on speaking. You need to be an active listener. People who watch this podcast understand that. I, I placed a lot of premium on that. And of course, you did confirm that you confirmed that at the beginning, You know, where before we hit the record button, that why is it that I ask the follow up questions, right? Is it that I'm looking for particular answers? I, I, I'm open minded.

33:08 I'm not looking for a particular answer. The reason why I ask the follow up questions is I listen to you actively and I want to understand in between the lines of what you're saying. And I try to corroborate what you're saying in order to confirm understanding. And trust me, I've learned a lot from, you know, great minds like yourself from all around the world.

33:29 I think I've interviewed people from every continent in this world right now with over 100 episodes in the back. I'm grateful, but you need to learn a lot from people by listening. Very, very important. And of course, I'm, I'm grateful you, you actually brought this up. I'm really grateful, you know.

33:51 It's so true. Yeah, and we have 4 minutes left, you know, on the part they say it takes 4 minutes to save a life. So let's, let's, let's talk about you as a person. What would you say? Right. That people don't really know about you, but it's probably like a skill or capability that you have and you're quite proud of, but people don't really know about you as a person. Well, that's kind of tough.

34:24 But what they Anybody who truly knows me knows that it's family first, God is second, and I am You're. The first best I've ever had that father, the first God second. I like it. Rearrangement. Well, I have to tell you, Brian Piccolo wrote a book. Brian Piccolo was a former Chicago Bears football player, and he just switched the first two. He said God is first, my family's second, I am third. The name of the book was I am third but I switch it around because my family is first.

35:00 Got a second but I am third. Interesting stuff. OK, I'll think about it. I don't have a would I say? I'm not married? So I wouldn't say I have. Is it, what do you call it, the primary family or something? Well, I've I've been married for 37 years. Wow, wow. That is even before I was born. I'm 33 years old, so I have a lot of learning to take off your playbook. Please, just just just, you know, document the things I need to know so that I won't make the wrong decisions, you know? Right, right.

35:36 Whoa, Sir. Too long. It's too long of a thing for me to ever write down so you know. Please write, write, write what you can write. Please, I'm, I'm begging you. I'm begging you, I'm not proud. I'm very humble. OK, OK and I'm very teachable. Please, you know, let's let's take the quick fire out questions, you know, 5 questions, quick responses.

36:01 So complete this sentence. The biggest networking myth that needs to die is what? Biggest networking myth is it's, it's talking, it's speaking. It's speaking without hearing, right? If you're going to speak without hearing, why you bother? Why? Why are you there, right? You have to listen and then speak, but you're going to speak with a response to what they were saying. So #2 you're at a networking event and you see someone standing alone looking uncomfortable. You have 30 seconds.

36:34 What do you do? Very simple, walk up and talk to him. Walk up, talk to them. Don't talk to them about business. You know, comments say, hey, you know what, that's a nice blazer you have on or those are nice shoes. Where do you get those shoes or something else like that? Because if they're standing off to the side, that means they're nervous about entering the room. So what you're doing is you're helping them and you're helping them break down that nervousness and you're just talking about anything.

37:00 Just and stuff. Anyways, yeah, it's a nice blazer I have on, but I don't have nice shoes at #3. One piece of advice you'd give to your 25 year old self about building professional relationships? Oh my God, yes. Well, you know what? This that's before I went to the school of Hard Knocks. I would tell myself to start building relationships, building relationships, and not concentrate on just building customers. Fantastic beauty relationships keyword. I did work with the BIG4 accounting firms. I worked with PwC and KPMG and PwC, one of the major, you know, pillars in the professional appraisal framework was beauty relationships.

37:47 And I tell my colleagues like they gave you the cheats code to succeed as a professional. It's like you guys do not take this thing seriously. Number one is whole leadership #2 visas acumen #3 global acumen #4 technical competence and #5 building relationships. But yeah, I know at my time there, I used to score 5 / 5. You know, when it comes to beauty relationships, I take it very, very seriously.

38:13 Beauty relationships will take you very far in life. Very far, yes. Very important, Very important, very important. I'm really grateful you you brought that up so #4 Bill in the blank. Great networkers are made not. They're, they're not, they're not, they're not born, OK, because you can be born with not being confident, not being anything, a real networker.

38:37 You have to work on your confidence, work on your active listening. This is all a talent and a skill, and with a talent and a skill you need to practise, practise, practise. The more you practise, you're better. You get at it. Practise makes perfect. And of course. Actually, perfect practise makes perfect.

39:01 Absolutely. And of course, you brought up the nature versus nature. It's a combination of the two. Absolutely. So the last question if you could have dinner with any three people leaving or dead, who would they be and why? Well, the first thing is my mother, right? My mother, who has passed away.

39:23 I would love to have her. God rest her. Soul, God rest her soul. I'd love to have dinner with her, right? But I'd love to have dinner with John Maxwell, who is a big speaker event. I've read one of his books. Yeah, he's a great writer. Yeah, I I read 21 Laws of Leadership. Yeah, that's I read that one. I read that one.

39:47 Right. Yeah. And, and it helped me so in so many different ways. And the third one is Bill Engvall. He's a comedian and I always learned so much from comedians. He is just so funny and so clean and just. Everything he does is is hysterical, but I learn from what I do, how I speak on stages and workshops, my timing and everything else like that I all get from him.

40:18 OK. And of course, at this point now I think I'd like to make it a Mount Rushmore. I'm going to add myself in that dinner so that takeaways. Absolutely. You're invited. Come on over. Love and respect to you. Love and respect to you. Once again, a very, very big thank you to you. I don't take you for granted.

40:37 I very, very much appreciate you. And of course, to our audience, thank you very much guys. Your support is very much appreciated. We have been on the Apple Podcast Top 200 charts in 13 plus countries and counting within the past three weeks. You guys are are are making it happen. You guys are absolutely amazing. And of course, you know, you're giving me increased motivation to find fantastic, what I say, insightful, resourceful individuals like Michael, a former and and of course, you know, guys drop their comments, you know, share with your network.

41:13 And of course, I I would love to have Michael back on the show, but I want you guys to pressure him because they say third party evidence is the most compelling form of evidence. If you want to see Michael again on this show, please float the comments section. And of course, please don't ask me questions. Ask drop the drop the questions for him. He's the pro and the Joe, right?

41:38 So Michael, do you have any final words for, of advice, you know, for for our audience And of course, how can they connect with you? And of course, I know you're a podcast host as well. Please go follow his assure as well. So please tell them how they can find you well. My podcast is Networking Unleashed, name of my book that I wrote.

41:57 I have digital courses that you can go on and to my website and do it. But my website, michaelaforeman.com, there's no E between the R&E. OK, that's like George. So michaelaforeman.com on there's a contact sheet and you can get hold of me. I'll call you back or get back in touch with you and within 24 hours. But there is a plethora of podcasts that I've been on my book, digital courses and things to look at. And you can hear me as my demo reels on there also on what I speak about.

42:32 But that's the best way to get hold of me. Magazines. I've gotten that award. I've got a lot of things behind me, so I'll just send it to you and whatever you want to put in the notes, feel free. OK, permit me to do a shameless blog. All right? Yeah. Can you please give my members of audience a discount to to some of your resources? Give us a promo code.

42:54 We love a goodbye game. Tell them to contact me and we'll work it out. OK, fantastic. Thank you very much and once again for me, to you gratitude is good attitude and of course, thank you, God bless you, love and respect to you. Do you want to leave a shout out to anyone before you leave? No, just listen, anybody who's out there trying to network, network properly, just just go out and just start doing it. Just start networking and you'll see how much easier it is, how much better you feel.

43:25 And once you are out there networking with confidence, then the world just opens up to you. So thank you once again and of course guys till I come your way again, keep winning in life and of course the out of trouble goodbye from me.