Last week I attended a lightening round networking event based on the premise of the “10-minute Dating” craze that took hold a few years ago.  I made several worthwhile contacts, but as I left I couldn’t help gazing at my wedding band with relief.  I didn’t want to imagine the intensity of evaluating fifteen strangers on questions like “Would he embarrass me in front of my boss?” in ten minutes or less. 

      I know that to many people, networking is the professional equivalent of visiting the dentist – necessary but uncomfortable and undertaken no more than twice yearly.  Despite being among those who actually enjoy networking, I’m still surprised by how many people make fundamental networking mistakes.  Why bother to show up and make the rounds if you cover your nametag with your portfolio all afternoon?  And how about the ones – you know who they are – who go from person to person collecting cards.  They’re the first ones to leave the event and the first ones you’ll get a sales call from the next day.

 

The standard advice on networking still holds true.  As a refresher, it’s worthy of review.

 Know your objectives.

Why are you attending the event?  Are you looking for a new job?  Are you looking for new clients or sales channels?  Are you there to promote your company?  First and foremost, be clear on what you hope to achieve.  Don’t go with the intention of promoting yourself and end up spending the whole time talking up your current employer.  Remember that everything and everybody has a brand.  Whether you’re networking to promote a product, a business or yourself, you are affecting market perception.  Own that perception as much as you can. 

 Get your elevator speech ready.

Once you know what you want to achieve, construct a 30-second sales pitch.  Ideally (if you’re networking successfully) you will have to deliver this pitch many times over the course of the event, so be sure it’s clear, easy to remember and most of all, personal.  Corny elevator speeches are painful to witness.

 Understand who is attending and make your strategy for connecting.

The more you know about the people in the room, the more you can target your opportunities.  Unfortunately, you won’t always be able to see attendee enrollments in advance, but most well-coordinated events will find ways to help attendees learn about the others in the room.  They may do so through registration lists (available during check-in), roaming hosts, group introductions and even registration processes that allow attendees to identify individuals and businesses with whom they’d like to connect.  Having a plan will help you make better connections and will bring you closer to reaching your objectives.  Never forget, however, that some of the best connections are the ones you didn’t expect. 

 

If this was all it took for successful networking, we’d all be pros and I’d be out of a job.  Here are some additional techniques to help you navigate a room successfully.

 You are not your resume.

There were three banks represented at a recent event.  I asked one banker why I should send customers to his bank.  He replied by reciting highlights from his resume.  Two big mistakes and an opportunity lost.  First of all, his resume obviously had no influence over the products offered by his big bank employer.  By giving me his resume, he was promoting the wrong thing: himself, not his bank.  Second, people connect with people, not with their history.  Hand me your resume, but let me meet you. 

 Passion is interesting.

Small talk is boring.  People come to life when talking about a true passion.  Prepare yourself for an event by thinking about the things in your work and in your personal life that actually excite you.  Find ways to introduce them into your conversations.  Don’t say, “I’m a systems engineer” and expect people to get excited.  Talk about the actual projects you’re working on and the interesting results they’ll deliver to people’s lives.  Sticking to topics such as employer, job title and alma mater only get you so far.  There’s a reason small talk can be so painful.  It doesn’t have to be.

 People love to talk about themselves.

When in doubt, rely on our narcissistic tendencies.  It’s true that people love to talk about themselves and the people who get the best conversations started are the ones who ask good questions.  Again, surface questions only get you so far, so exercise your research strengths and ask questions that lead to open roads for conversation.  Personal questions can be tricky, however, so if you wouldn’t want to answer the question yourself, don’t ask it of someone else.

 

That’s all for today.  I have to make an appointment at the dentist.