Meetings and more meetings. Not always fun. But often necessary. How delightful, then, to attend an excellent business networking meeting and discover that one of the guest speakers was sharing lessons for business from Burlesque.

There was much laughter that morning at The Boardroom Network in Bournemouth, and rightly so. Three 'volunteers' were roped in to modelling what Abi was teaching us. Her message was around the impact we can have when we enter the room. Shoulders hunched just doesn't give the right message!

In case you're about to switch off, thinking to yourself, "Lex, I don't do networking – or even attend meetings," Abi's message was about how to have more joie de vivre – more joy in every moment... and, perhaps, in every movement!

Over years of coaching, I've become convinced that our physical 'position' affects our mental 'position'. I'm also convinced that the two are inextricably connected. Change the body, change the mind; change the mind, change the body! (Hey, high heels make a difference, don't they?)

I was, therefore, very open to Abi's insights. There were three top tips:

1 Posture. Stand tall – chin up, shoulders relaxed – open posture makes you look confident and approachable (and I'd argue it makes you feel that way too!) I can feel a Val Doonican song coming on... "Walk tall, walk straight, and look the World right in the eye..." https://youtu.be/BL58-Sh94ms

2 Eye Contact. A difficult balance between connection and seduction (well, if you decide to do Burlesque!) Eyes-wide-open gives a message of innocence and honesty! This is one of the reasons I am uncomfortable with people who won't take their sunglasses off.

But the real reason I wanted to write this blog was because of Abi's third and final tip...

3 The Shimmy! This is a moving of the shoulders - not up and down (it's not 'shrugging') but rather forwards and backwards. This was hilarious (as you can check out in the video link) and I'm pretty sure I will never do it, but her point was compelling: never let a day go by without having a shimmy! It'll make you laugh, it'll make anybody who see you doing it laugh, and business as well as life can get a whole lot better with a shimmy.

Now, since I'm becoming to know some of you better over the years, I can guess now who's going to have a go at doing a shimmy right now!!!

And for those who want the whole Shack to Shimmy when everyone's movin' around and around – here's a link to the Love Getaway: https://youtu.be/9SOryJvTAGs Trust me, shimmying to this is great fun!

To see Abi's presentation, follow this YouTube link!

https://youtu.be/pqyZZzloX-k

Shimmy!

Lex

A Moodscope member.

[And please let me know what adventures you get up to!]