Networking at an Event – 7 Steps to Make it Fun
February 19, 2010 by ngill
By Nerida Gill, Admin Bandit
The skill of networking at events takes chutzpah, not to mention practise. But I much prefer jumping off the deep end to twiddling my thumbs in a corner!
Surprise yourself — follow these seven networking tips and discover that meeting new people can be fun and rewarding.
1. Start Slowly
Commit to going to a certain number of events and aim to simply meet one new person at each one. Hosts or guest speakers are easy to approach. Alternatively, ask someone you know to introduce you around.
2. The Art of Conversation
Banish awkward silences by encouraging people to talk about themselves. Ask questions that can’t simply be answered with “yes” or “no” … these usually start with “how”, “why” or “what”. Why did you start your own business? What did you think of the seminar?
3. Remember Names
Imprint a person’s name into your mind by repeating it in your conversation, and don’t be afraid to ask for a name again or check the spelling. After an event, go through the business cards you’ve collected and mentally picture each person. If you really can’t remember, look for their picture on a website or blog, or do a Google image search.
4. Play Your Cards Right
Your business cards, that is. Have plenty on hand and store them in a professional holder — scrabbling for dog-eared cards in your handbag is not a good look.
After, compile any cards you’ve received into a “contacts book”.
5. Shut Up!
Networking isn’t all about you — give people your full attention, listen to what they have to say and look for opportunities to learn. Even better, give people something of value — suggest a useful website address or introduce a friend with similar interests.
6. Ignore the “Brush Off”
Don’t take a cold shoulder personally. You might initially feel angry or humiliated but, chances are, someone who is rude to you is rude to everyone. Besides, anyone who doesn’t realise you are charming and have lots to offer is only hurting themselves and their business in the long run.
7. The Follow-Up
Stay in touch to take new relationships to the next level — send a short email the next day to say you enjoyed your conversation or elect to follow someone on Twitter.
And send a hand-written “thank you” to the host of a particularly valuable or entertaining event — they’ll make a wonderful ally.
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Nerida Gill - Admin BanditNerida Gill is the creator of Admin Bandit, a web-based accounting package designed specifically to make keeping the books easy for volunteer treasurers in community groups. After winning numerous business awards, Admin Bandit is in a growth phase after recently attracting external investment.
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This is a great article. Thanks for the simple, yet powerful steps.Two things I’d add:
1. Although you implied this, is “Be 100% present”
Be present in the conversation, i.e. listen actively by rephrasing or asking for more details; be 100% present in the location, don’t respond to SMS’s or be Tweeting; Be 100% present in person, if there’s someone else you want to talk to and meet, finish your conversation, excuse yourself, then go and engage with the other person.
2. Become a connector. Commit to introducing one new person that you meet, to someone else in the room. If the someone else is someone you already know – good. If it’s someone you’ve just met – GREAT!! Before long people will want to be meeting you. (Tip: This forces you to remember something about the people you meet so you’re connecting relevant people)
All the best
Roger
PS If you’re a good technologist, and want to learn how to develop these and other professional skills to become outstanding. Head over to http://channel42.fm
Thanks Roger,
You make very good points because it is really about genuine interest and treating people as you would want to be treated rather than as a business card receptacle.
Regards
Nerida
Hey Nerida
Thanks for the response. It is absolutely about genuine interest. I’m passionate about networking: attend, & host a number of relevant networking events in my home town Sydney.
From coffee mornings (nwcm.posterous.com & nscm.posterous.com) to business networking events to Technical Usergroups.
My experience is that most people go looking to “get” something – another connection, another customer, more business, more knowledge, or if a speaker, a bigger profile.
Switch this to look to see what you can “give:” an introduction, a service (for free), a discount, some knowledge. When you focus on adding value, learning others real needs, immediately you stand out compared to every other person in the room.
Cheers
Roger
Great article, great feedback from Roger (the more we get to know each other Roger, the more I feel we must have been “separated at birth”
I can’t rate Twitter highly enough as a tool to take the important face-to-face networking to the next level (in fact I want to write a book about it *add to to-do list* ) My point is that I use Twitter to build relationships online which are cemented offline. Coffee Mornings is a great example of this – the online relationships are build by the community, who decide to take it to the next level by meeting and discussing ideas every week in a relaxed, informal setting. It’s really the new way of running events which add more value than most of the paid events these days.
Cheers
Tony Hollingsworth.
Nerida, thank you for this. The part of this post that struck a chord with me was the “Shut-up” and “Follow-up” and in fact this could be a new networking mantra – maybe even a book title – [I want royalties if you use it
I’ve found I’ve always got the most out of meeting new people when I actively listen for something of interest to me and when I actively follow up on providing something to someone else.
I’m not into networking for networking’s sake. I like to go to events where I’m genuinely interested in the subject matter because inevitably that’s where I’ll find someone with similar interests or needs to mine.
The name ‘networking’ sometimes has a bad connotation – I think this comes from the idea that when we’re ‘networking’, we’re trying to selfishly get something for ourselves. If ‘networking’ was seen more as approaching events with the anticipation of learning something new and the anticipation of helping someone out – I think it would have a more positive connotation.
Warmly
Yvette
Thanks for your comment Tony. Like the way you’re using Twitter and offline networking to compliment each other. How we network online is a whole other topic isn’t it.
Love the book title suggestion. Very catchy.
As you have suggested, going to events is about learning something and connecting. I find myself weighing these two sides up when deciding on attending an event.
What great advice Nerida! It shifts the focus onto what we can learn from others and giving them value, which is a more expanded view, and takes all the pressure off having to perform. Really helpful so thank you.
Thanks Liz, glad it was helpful. What you say reminds me that it is the opposite of Bette Middler in Beaches where she says “That’s enough about me, what do you think about me?”.
Hi Nerida
As a rather shy person, I can find networking events a little daunting. When I take the attitude that this is about building relationships (rather than just collecting possible contacts), I settle into a more relaxed approach.
And thanks for the suggestion of a hand-written note to the host – I always say thanks as I leave, but that makes it even more special.
Desolie
Thanks for your comment Desolie. It does help to keep in mind that it is about building relationships.
To send the hand written notes, I’ve had a postcard made with Admin Bandit branding and a bit of humour to help people remember where I fit.