Full Transcription for the video lesson below:
Hi there, welcome. I’m Farnoosh Brock. I’m a career expert that helps you get noticed and get ahead at your job. Today, we talk about networking. We’re going to demystify this essence of career success and I want to give you three easy tips that make networking fun and easy to incorporate into your career advancement plan.
What is Networking?
So first, let’s demystify networking.
It’s a buzz word. Everyone uses it. “You need to network.” “You need to network to build a career.” “You need to network to get ahead.” You know you need to do it, but what does it even mean? Well, networking means connecting with like-minded people. It’s just connecting with other human beings. You do this networking all day long in the rest of your life. You network with your neighbors, with your children’s teachers, with your own friends or with the friends of your friends, but you don’t call it “networking” because you’re simply having a conversation with people that interest you and that you want to build a relationship with.
So, if you bring this same concept of building relationships and connecting with other human beings into the concept of networking for your career, it already makes it more accessible and approachable.
Now, let’s talk about some networking tips that get you started.
Tip #1. The Confident Introduction
The first tip is to have a really confident introduction, and that’s when you bring yourself into the conversation, and it’s just a conversation.
So, you’re at an event and you always want to make sure that you have a confident introduction when you meet someone or when you are introduced to someone. The tip I want to give you is use the phrase, “I am” rather than, “My name is.” When you just say the words “I am” you already feel confident. “I am John,” “I am Jane.” “I am” your name. Then you want to ask the person to share their name with you. So, having that confident introduction already puts you in this position of power and confidence and helps you introduce yourself easily.
Tip #2. Know the Safe Topics and What to Avoid
The second tip I have for you is to stick to positive discussions.
So, if you’re at an event, a lot of people tend to get into these complaining cycles. “The food is not good, the weather is not good, the speaker is not good.” Stay away from that, because those conversations leave an impression and the impression you want to leave with everyone is a positive one. Even if nothing is working out at an event, don’t comment on the negative stuff. Stay positive. Surely, there is positive things you can talk about when you’re spending two to three minutes with a new person you just met. So remember, stay with positive things and that alone makes you memorable.
Tip #3. Start Working Small Circles First.
And the third tip I want to give you is something that I used to do- because I used to be very shy at networking even though I’m a very confident person- and this is when you go into a room, into an event, and you’re a little overwhelmed that there’s a lot of people and there are these groups of people that are just speaking to each other. You know it and you’re thinking to yourself, “How do I break into this group or break into that group?” And “How do I do that in a subtle way so I don’t bring a lot of attention to myself?”
Well, before you warm up to that, maybe you should start off easier, and the way to do that is simply notice if someone is sitting down by themselves or standing in a corner and not engaging in conversation. That’s someone else that may be nervous about networking and they have been sent to this event or have made themselves show up. Your job and your most rewarding task would be to approach that person and have a conversation with them, and then move on to the rest of the crowd. But when you do that, first of all, you never know whom you’re going to meet. Most of the smart people don’t really have a lot of strong networking skills- they hang out by themselves. Secondly, you make an impression, and you’re also going to be introduced to more people through approaching this person.
Your 3 Easy Networking Tips
So, those are the three tips and to recap them for you:
- You want to introduce yourself with a confident introduction: “I am” followed by your name.
- Second, you want to make sure that you stay with positive topics. Don’t go into the complaining nature even if everyone else is doing it. Stay positive. Leave a positive impression.
- The third one is you don’t have to go into these huge subgroups and break into the conversation: simply approach someone who is sitting by themselves and start a conversation there.
And if you just do this, you’re going to feel confident and your next event will be a success and you’re going to leave a strong impression on the people you meet. If you want to learn more, come visit me at fasttrackpromotion.com, and check out my videos and subscribe below to my video channel. I’ll talk to you soon.
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