You are about to attend another networking event. You do this so regularly, it has become routine, automatic. You know how to ready yourself: plenty of business cards at easy reach, a few brochures tucked away in an inconspicuous pocket, pen and paper to jot down those workable contacts, and the right attire. Beyond these basics, how are you preparing? Are you preparing? What’s missing?
Don’t walk out the door until you are ready to make the complete impression that counts!
To maximize our effectiveness at every networking event, we need to prepare for how best to project our competence.
Demonstrating competence in a networking setting is unrelated to how competent we are in our job function. Rather, it is embodied in how well we can discuss what is happening at our firm or in our area of expertise. It includes selecting accomplishments, milestones, progress, visions, trends, policies – taking selected happenings (that might not seem so exciting on a daily basis) and making them newsworthy by discussing these items as news! It is how we discuss them that counts. Since the rule for chatting at networking events is to let the other person do 70% of the talking, we must carefully craft our statements to get the most impact in our time allotment!
Before we walk out the door, prepare targeted statements – at least two versions – one to use with people you see often or run into frequently at these events, plus one to use with “just-mets” or more casual acquaintances. Have two versions of these statements.
1. The “sound bite” – This is similar to what we might hear in a media interview – a statement of about 2-3 sentences that briefly encapsulates the essence of your topic and what is "newsworthy" about it. This “sound bite” needs to be carefully planned so you are engaging the listener with just the 2-3 points that make you and your firm shine. Brief and to-the-point, it provides a tidbit or two of good information that grabs the listener. The distinguishing feature is to guide the information away from yourself and express it so it is relevant to the interests of the listener.
2. The “education” – When we are ready to engage in a real discussion on our “news” topic, then we need to be prepared with substantive information, not just conversational descriptions. The “education” is a good paragraph, seemingly casual but actually tightly planned! it contains the classic who, what, when, where, and why, with the added distinguisher of what we will be doing about it, going forward.
By structuring and practicing what we will say, we will project our competence in a subtle, understated way. It is not so much about promoting ourselves or our firm’s accomplishments, but rather planning before we walk out the door to ensure the information is engaging and makes the impression that counts.
