Читать книгу 101 tips on networking. How to make valuable connections with people - Alex Babushkin - Страница 3

Make it a rule to attend at least one event per week

Select events based on your interests, and visit at least one of them each week. Meet at least two people at each event. Then, by the end of the year you will have more than a hundred new acquaintances. If you want more, go to events more often, or increase the number of new acquaintances.

Think about things to talk about

Choose three to five topics that you can easily converse about. You can talk about topics related to your profession, or topics related to your hobbies. Be inquisitive, update your list with new topics.

Prepare a few questions to develop conversations

Think in advance about what you can ask someone when you meet them. For example, ask his opinion about a high-profile event that’s in the news. Or discuss how to improve something. Look at the latest news, scroll through the latest press releases or specialized sites on the Internet. Talk about something that you think is of interest to your conversation partner.

Prepare a mini-presentation about yourself

Work out a succinct, yet interesting way to present yourself. Try to make your self-introduction original and catchy. Add to it an interesting fact about yourself or your company to intrigue your conversation partner.

A director of a diamond disc plant could introduce himself as follows: Greetings! My name is Igor Stavkin, and I run a company that produces the hardest product on earth.

Rehearse the text so that it sounds spontaneous, and so that you don’t forget how it goes. Come up with two or three different versions of this self-introduction. You don’t want to sound like a parrot, repeating the same thing to each newcomer.

Make a personalized name tag

When you register, don’t expect the organizers to issue a name tag that you actually like. It’s be nice if your name was on it, along with what you’re all about. But this doesn’t happen very often. To be sure of the outcome, make your own name tag ahead of time. Make it two-sided. Then, if it turns over, the information on it is still readable. Wear your name tag along with the one you get at registration, or instead of it. This way, everyone will know your name and what you do.

Follow the dress code

When you go to an event, dress for the occasion, or follow any dress code that applies. If it’s an IT firm, then jeans and a sweater are just fine. But you don’t want to alienate your partners at the business club, so wear something more conservative there.

Contact whoever you want to meet the day before

You can call, send an email or message him or her via a social network. When the connection is already established in absentia, your first in-person introduction and conversation will take place in a more favorable environment. The person you’re connecting with will feel sort of like you already know each other. Even if you don’t get a response to your message, then when you meet, you can mention it – this can serve as the catalyst for a conversation.

Use «+1” if you can

If you have an extra ticket or an invitation to an interesting event, use it to strengthen your network. Take someone you want to maintain a relationship with along.

Arrive at the event before it starts

That way, you can use the extra time to establish new contacts and meet new arrivals. By getting there earlier, you acquire a kind of “host” status. The people who show up later will start seeing you this way. You will find that you’re the center of attention, and people will turn to you for information and advice. And you’ll have no problem answering questions and making new acquaintances.

Join the group behind the event in social networks

That way, you can start communicating with the participants even before the the event, and then continue communicating with them afterwards. Look through the list of guests, decide ahead of time which of them are of interest to you, and who you’d like to meet. Place a post in the community with information about yourself and an invitation to connect at the event.