Spare me the people who ask, 'Have you thought about ... losing weight, hiring an assistant, buying a Pentium, working with an etiquette specialist, coloring your hair?

Be yourself' is good advice, unless you notice that people are always excusing themselves and moving away from you. In that case, try being someone else!

Good things come to those who initiate.

They say, You can't give a smile away; it always comes back. The same is true of a kind word or a conversation starter. What goes around, comes around.

Networking is an enrichment program, not an entitlement program.

Ninety percent of the people in any group are nice, raised to be polite, and have more in common than not.

Conversation takes practice; the more we do it, the better we get, and the more easily we do it.