Most men begin an interview with a prospective employer indefinitely or in merely general terms.  Naturally they confront a wall of non-interest.  You have come, remember, on a mission of service.  Please at once by presenting the idea that you know a particular service which is lacking and which you can supply.  Break the ice of strangeness between you and your prospect by an appeal first to his human side through a smile of genuine friendliness and by looking straight into his eyes so that he can see into your heart.

Then in a business-like way get right down to business without hesitation.  Show enthusiasm, which is contagious if not overdone.  Base your enthusiasm on real optimism.  Indicate temperamental youthfulness in vigor and courage.  Say something original—­something strong, maybe a little startling; but it must be self-evidently true.  By all means avoid anything that suggests parrot talk or indefinite thought.  Do not expect the other man to listen with interest to a statement proceeding from premise to conclusion.

[Sidenote:  Headlines]

Use headlines prominently and often to summarize the body of your proposal.  Headlines attract your attention and induce your interest in particular newspaper items.  Employ headline statements for the same purpose in selling the idea of your capabilities; just as surely you will get attention and interest.

A noted sales manager who had been earning a large salary made up his mind that satisfying success for him was to be gained only through a business in which he would be partly an owner instead of just an employee.  He called together a group of financiers and introduced his purpose by saying to them, “Gentlemen, I have an idea in which I have so much confidence that I will resign my $75,000 a year job to develop it.  I want to explain it to you and to have your co-operation in financing a project I have worked out.”  His headline statement secured instant interest, of course.

There is something about yourself or your capabilities that you can put into headlines. In forcible, vivid language you can strike some senses of your prospects.  Think of headline statements about your services.  Write them out in advance.  You may be certain they will produce the same psychological effect as headlines in the newspapers.

[Sidenote:  Sense Doors Always Open]

Use the sense avenues to introduce agreeable suggestions into your prospect’s mind centers of attention and interest.  Then you will be employing the unusual methods of a master salesman, who devises ways of using every possible sense appeal.

The sense doors are always open.  They are held open by the subconscious mind.  If you understand your way through them there will be no doubt about the effectiveness of your knock at the door of opportunity, or about getting an invitation for your ideas to enter the mind of the other man.