How do you connect people once you’ve spotted the potential for a powerful introduction?

I am not a big fan of voice notes generally, although they certainly have their use and are becoming more prevalent. However, on Friday I had a moment of inspiration and ended up recording a WhatsApp voice note to make a connection.

My friend Jenna Dominique was introducing herself at a course we were both attending on using AI in our businesses. Jenna mentioned a new product she was developing, offering pitch training to academics who have to present their ideas to gain funding and other backing.

I immediately thought of my good friend and co-author of The Financial Times Guide to Mentoring (never miss an opportunity for a soft plug!), Ruth Gotian,. Ruth is a very experienced and well-respected academic at an Ivy League Medical School in New York and has often shared with me the challenges and frustrations faced by academics in getting the support they need to continue with their work.

In my usual style, I told Jenna that I’d email Ruth and ask if she’d be open to an intro. I asked Jenna to email me a short paragraph that I could include in the email to explain what she is doing.

And then the idea struck me.

Ruth and I often communicate using voice notes. Jenna was standing there with me. So I started recording. I set up the context for Ruth and then passed my phone across to Jenna to continue the conversation and introduce herself. It was a simple touch, but one that added humanity and personality to the introduction.

And, let’s face it, if a pitch coach can’t present her idea in a short voice note, nobody can!

Ruth replied shortly afterwards inviting me to connect the two of them and they are now arranging a time to speak.

It was such a simple and, with the benefit of hindsight, obvious idea. But none of us had thought of it before.

How do you typically connect people in your network and can you see voice notes improving your ability to bring such introductions to life?