Tactics Tuesdays: Deep Diving Off of Her Compliments

Use this simple process to take the compliments others pay you and springboard off them into a deep dive. Commenting on a recent article of mine, reader Cian requests “tips on how to gracefully reply to compliments and leverage them to further the conversation/Deep Dive process.” His first request is simple enough. The way to reply to a compliment is, “Thank you.” You don’t launch into a story (makes you look self-satisfied). You don’t engage in self-deprecation (makes you look uncomfortable taking a compliment). You don’t compliment back, usually – at least not instantly (makes you look reactive and lessens the impact of any compliments you do pay). You just say thanks. Can you use compliments as deep dive fuel though? If so, how does that work? How do you use someone else’s compliment about you as an excuse to get to know more about your interlocuter?