In July, I will be giving some talks on "Secret" strategies for college-bound students. They are not secret because of some organized conspiracy--they just are not widely known or practiced by new students.
Strategy #1: Greeting. Learn how to greet others as adults. There's no substitute, at least in the United States, for being able to walk up to a person, extend your hand, and say, "Hello, Professor/Dr./Ms./Mr. so-and-so, I'm ___ and will be in your class on differential equations." Don't, on second meetings, say "Do you remember me?" Instead, lead out again with your name, then move to some positive statement.
My own default statement is, "It's good to see you." I say it directly while looking into the eyes of the recipient. It never has failed to receive a positive response; often, the other person says, "It's good to see you, too." I don't favor, "How are you?" or "How is it going?" (I especially dislike the latter). I suppose that these questions are a matter of taste, but I still insist that statements (that don't require responses) are more reliable, more likely to put others at ease.
As a strategy, this one would be classed under the concept of Engagement. Rather than engaging an enemy though, or even an opponent, one is engaging a possible ally.
An extension of the strong physical greeting is the email greeting. One should default to "Dear ___," even in an email. Eventually, a more casual "Hello, Professor so-and-so" can work, but one should be wary of sliding too much into flabby, casual greetings. Friendly, informal even, but not flabby.
Emails will not be effective if they fail to engage properly. Before the actual greeting, one must write a targeted, clear subject line. But that is another subject.
A thought for training: One must be relentless in practicing greetings.
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