The PaaP Test

No, not “Pap” Test.  “PaaP” test.

It’s the “person-at-a-party” test, and I’ve used it implicitly in my posts on your-audience-tuning-out and (in the form of “person-on-the-telephone”) in my post here.

The test is pretty simple: take an interpersonal behavior, and see how appropriate it would be if someone you didn’t know came up to you at a party and exhibited it.

Example: Repeating the name of your prospect or target.  “What would you say, Dan, if I were to say to you, Dan, that you, Dan, could be the winner of more money than Dan has ever taken home in his life?”

PaaP Test: If someone did this to you at a party, you’d be circling around them to make sure they weren’t blocking your access to the exit.

Example: Forcing your prospect to listen to your presentation in the exact order you created it.

PaaP Test: Imagine someone at a party who continued through a long canned self-introduction and wouldn’t stop to answer your question about how they know the hostess.

It’s a powerful test.  The PaaP situation is anonymous enough that we don’t have giant expectations of the people we’re interacting with.  But it’s also a human situation, so there are boundaries, and when someone crosses them it’s obvious.

We’ll be applying the PaaP Test liberally in posts to come.