Confusion is a luxury which only the very, very young can possibly afford and you are not that young anymore. -James Baldwin Giovanni's Room

One courtesy I deeply appreciate is when the person inviting me to an event provides detailed directions or instructions for getting there.

I know everyone has turn by turn directions these days.

I use the maps app on my phone to get to my destination, but here is what the maps app doesn't tell me while I'm driving:

• What's near the building I'm looking for

• The specific building the meeting is taking place in if the facility has more than one building on its campus

• Which parking lot to park in

• Which entrance to use if the building has more than one entrance

• What door to enter once I've found the right building to go into

Think of all that could go wrong while attending an event or meeting at a multi building complex with doors and entrances all over the place and no instructions beyond an address.

The Horror Movie They Play in Their Head

If you have invited friends or acquaintances to a meeting you know they have never been to before, you have asked them to be there for a reason. You would like for them to have an enjoyable time.

If your people are flustered before they ever walk in the room, they won't be open, curious, or excited to meet those people you would like for them to meet. Instead, they'll be highly annoyed, stressed, or just coming down off of the horror movie they've created in their head while trying to find you for the last 15 minutes.

A horror movie in which they walk in late to a meeting already in progress, leading to the entire room looking at them with disdain, leading to an imaginary uphill battle they must then set upon to get back into the good graces of the room....

This horror movie is entirely inaccurate but when the amygdala kicks in, all bets are off.

Let's not do this to our friends or acquaintances.

Do This Instead

Give your people over the top directions and/or information about the location of the meeting. Be the superhero of instructions.

Tell them what's near the place they are looking for. (Look for the big McDonalds sign, the building is just north of that sign on the same side of the street)

Tell them which building or parking lot to enter. (Pull in the entrance off of Jay Street and curve around to the right. Park in the east parking lot.)

Prepare to be at the event early, because the people you've invited will want to arrive early.

Meet your people outside of the building and walk in with them.

If you can't meet them outside, give detailed instructions as to which entrance to use. (Enter in the door that is just left of the big "Skulls Unlimited" sign.)

Don't hold back on the instructions. If you want calm, happy guest at the thing with you, be a superhero and give them everything they will need to find the thing.

I want to thank my friend Amanda, who inspired me to write this article. She recently invited me to an organizational meeting she is a part of, and gave me superhero grade instructions so I would not be stressed when I arrived. She even met me outside of the facility and walked me in.

I love it when people are kind. Don't you?

Go network my friend, and remember:

Wanna be someone's superman or superwoman? Give them fabulous directions and meet them outside when you are inviting to your events or meetings.

The Networker's Tour Guide, Faithann Basore, and her husband Dave have owned Window Cleaning Plus (WCP) for 10 years. Growing WCP through networking has given Faithann the desire to guide other small business owners through the networking terrain so they can feel comfortable and build long lasting relationships in their business.

Got networking questions? Email me at [email protected].