There is a book by Andy Lopata and Peter Roper about networking called
‘…and Death Came Third’
The book has this title because there was a survey done in 1984 in the New York Times on Social Anxiety / what people feared most and, as you may be able to tell, Death was third in the resulting list!
Guess what the other two were? Walking into a room full of strangers and speaking in public. Well, depending on which networking meeting you are going to, you could end up having to do both of those things in one go!
People who know me think that I doesn’t understand those fears – well, we have news for those people, I hate walking into a room full of strangers and speaking in public! The difference is that I realise that it is a really effective way for me to build my business, so I ‘feel the fear and do it anyway’(another great book).
Really, I am quite often as scared as everyone else at walking into a room of strangers but thankfully, as I’ve been networking for a while now, I am not often presented with a room full of strangers – it’s usually a room where I know at least half the people and they know the other half so its easier and I ask for introductions from those people that I do know!
The other thing to remember is that most other people are in the same position as you, and if you psyche yourself up to introduce yourself to someone who is standing there on their own, they will be forever grateful that you spoke to them!
And what do you do then, you might be asking? Ask them about themselves. Use questions like:
That should keep you going for a while; think about other questions that you could ask, remember to listen to the prospects answers, you may glean a useful piece of information that you can use to connect this person to someone else in the room or someone that you meet last week, or someone that you meet next week.
"And Death Came Third" - Business Networking Top Tips From a Networker of the Year
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