Is your networking not working?

I have done this many times. I have just turned up at an event hoping for the best. This will never work. Drill down to know what you want from the event. Prepare well so that you know who you are (first name – no one tends to listen to surnames, sector area (what would you be classified under in the Yellow pages – if you can remember), and what makes you special. The more you prepare the more comfortable you feel – the more human you come over, the more likely it will be that you will be in receive mode as opposed to transmit only. If you are required to do a one-minute pitch (or less) please outline the points you want to put across. Try and be extemporaneous – so that you don’t sound like an auto Tron and be specific. People tend to be self-absorbed and don’t have an imagination. Be as prescriptive as possible and it may just trigger something in the depths of their contact library. A little tip I was given: don’t reference other people’s pitches in your pitch. I thought this was counter intuitive (particularly as a text book people pleaser) but they made the case that this highlights you haven’t prepared; it shouts, ‘the dog ate my homework’. What do you want from the event? If you don’t know what you want to achieve then you will not know if the networking exercise is successful. A good friend of mine looks to do the following: Catch up with 3 existing contacts Meet one potential introducer/strategic alliance 1 new contact who could be developed into a prospect If you get a list of attendees beforehand look to see ascertain if there is anyone that you would like to connect with via LinkedIn. If you feel comfortable doing this do it.