Relationship Lessons from Peter Shankman Seminars

I don't know how many of you know Peter Shankman, but he is a hilarious presenter on PR and social media and really knows his stuff.
Anyway, this past week I attended a webinar he was giving through PRWeb, and as I was listening I realized there are a lot of theories and ideas involved in social media that can be applied to relationships. I thought some of them were pretty interesting, so for your entertainment value, here are three relationship lessons that I thought of off the top of my head:

#1 - Transparency. Peter Shankman is always talking about how in this day and age it is quite easy for people to find out the truth about you or your company, so it's better to be honest up front instead of trying to hide something from your consumers.

In a relationship it's important to be yourself. If you try too much to be "what the other person wants" you will waste a great deal of time and energy. At some point they will see the real you, whether it's sooner or later. You might as well let them know up front who you are. Not that they need to know everything right away, but being yourself is always good advice I'd say.

#2 - Brevity. Peter Shankman talks about the importance of being brief when making a pitch to a reporter, or really to anyone.

This principle definitely applies to first meetings and first dates with those of the opposite sex. The first date, especially if it's a blind date, should never last very long. Date #1 is the "get to know you enough so I can decide if it's worth my time or yours to see each other again" date. Sometimes making a date too long can ruin what could have been a pretty good date otherwise.

Disclaimer: I have had first dates that were somewhere in the 4 hour range that were great, but I've also had all day or "marathon" dates on first or second dates and that's just exhausting.

#3 - Don't Talk at People; Talk to them. Peter Shankman mentions how important it is to listen to your customers as a business owner. You can't just push messages out there and not be listening to what the people who use your product are saying.

How many times are you on a date and you realize the person is not really listening, or how many times do you realize you've just zoned out in the middle of someone's conversation. It's always key to listen before you speak, and to be with someone who does the same.

I'm sure there are crazy amounts of more theories I could apply to relationships from Peter Shankman's brilliant seminars, but I'd say three is good for now. Hopefully, you get as much out of these as I did.