Over cups of chilly Frapuccinos, my friend and I lounged in the theatre hall watching as beauty passed by. It was a Friday night and scores of beautiful executives and coeds piled out the premiere showing of The Banquet.

A particularly tall blonde meandered past - a hideous frog latched to her arm.

“Damn, Joey, how can that troll get a goddess like that??” he asked. Envy dripped like the sweet and sour sauce he had just moments earlier.

I was surprised. My friend wasn’t bad looking. At 36, he looked quite like the Marlboro Man. I prodded him for more details.

“I just can’t think of what to say to them. Girls like that get me stammering”"

Then he admitted investing in hundreds of pickup ebooks and courses like Speed Seduction.

“I don’t get it,” he said, “you’ve been dating a model the past two years. All your friends are girls. And you don’t even have the books I do! What’s your secret? Magic?”

I laughed. No it’s not magic. It’s not pickup lines or canned phrases. It’s plain old WIIFM.

“HUH” he said.

I told him to hold a ballpen vertically above his head. He did. After he felt a tad foolish, he asked me what’s the point.

“Everyone, especially beautiful girls, have an invisible antennae just like that. And it’s tuned in to WIIFM. Give them station WIIFM, and you have their attention.”

“Wtf??” my bud retorted.

“Station WIIFM. What’s In It For Me.” I responded, “Whether you’re the Pope or Madonna, the most important person in the room is always yourself. The secret to snagging the attention of ANYONE is by catering to their interests.”

He listened intently. Surprising too, as he usually monopolized conversations. I normally found it tough to get a word in.

“Dude, you can be the ugliest person in the room, but if you can make your listeners, laugh, or cry, or think deeply, you hit paydirt. Praise them. Compliment them. Ask them deep probing questions. Make them laugh. And for Chrissakes, listen to their responses. Just do this and you got more solid girl-getting secrets than all the fluff in your books.”

We bantered on the rest ovening, played some pool and before we separated, he left with a beautiful stranger we met at the billiard table.