We talked a little bit about networking in the past and for those of you who know me, you know that I am a networking queen. People ask me all the time, how do you make your business happen? You know that I work my “you know what” off networking and so they are always asking tips on how to really work a room. Today, I will give you my top 5 tips on how to really work a room and I hope they will be useful to you.
1) Wear a great outfit. I don’t care if you are a woman or a man, wearing an outfit that makes you feel confident is the best way to really work a room. We have this great designer that we work with called Byron Lars, and he sent us this amazing outfit from New York for one of our particular events and I can’t tell you how many compliments I got on it. It just gives that extra boost of confidence, because, let’s face it, all of us are a little bit of insecure from time to time, especially when we are with a big group of people. So, outfit is number one for me.
2) Set a goal, whether it is collecting 10 business cards, or talking to one person that will be great for your business and having a deeper conversation; whatever that goal is, make sure you that you set it ahead of time so that you know that you have reached it. We talked a lot about numbers in the past and you know that I’m a stickler for that so that you can always measure when you are successful.
3) OWN IT. I don’t care if you are having the worst day ever, when you walk into that room, you turn it on and you just own it. I know sometimes it’s easier said than done but again it’s one of those goals that you have to set for yourself because you are there for a purpose. People love to talk to people and sharing stories, having that conversation and that connection, make sure that when you walk into that room, you really own it, and you’re there and you are present.
4) Be authentic. It goes hand in hand with the owning it concept. If you are there and acting fake, and you’re just there to collect as many business cards as possible, people see right through that. You need to have an authentic energy. I know it’s a word that is overused quite a bit, but there is nothing else I can use at this point but know that authenticity really shows through. Those are the people that you truly want to connect with and who will want to connect with you. It’ll serve your business well.
5) Be in the right room. I know this is kind of obvious but sometimes you’ll go to an event and you’ll learn that “these aren’t my people,” or “this is not the networking event that I thought it would be.” You may find that maybe it’s a group of students and you’re in the corporate world and it’s just not a good fit. Make sure that you’re in the right room so that you can cut your losses if it’s not and if it is the right room, making sure that you are using 1-4 effectively.
These are my top 5 tips to working a room and networking very effectively. Hope this was helpful for you and stay tuned for more at Elevate My Brand.
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