Is your Networking Not Working?
"The words we choose and then we use, create our future!" Ray Ellis
Is your Networking Not working? Do you have difficulty Networking? Are you an introvert and uncomfortable at networking events? What do you think of when you hear the word networking?
When most people today think of networking it creates feelings of anxiety. It is not easy for everyone. But here are a few ideas that have worked well for me and might do the same for you.
Think of it as simply building relationships and making new friends. To be good at building relationships you have to share information about yourself first. When you share something about yourself, others will share something about themselves. Together find commonality and that creates connection.
Here is a simple FORMULA for sharing and building relationship with others.
F - Family (It is easy to talk about our family)
O - Occupation (Everyone likes to talk about what they do or want to do)
R - Recreation (Share your hobbies or recreational activities)
M - Money (We all have more month than money)
U - University (Share where you went to school, even rivalry builds relationship)
L - Location (Where were you born, where do you live, where have you traveled)
A - Association (What associations are you involved with)
When you share information first then others will respond in kind. Try not to overload them in your first conversation. It is a great way to start a dialogue by sharing something first, then when they respond you can follow with engaging questions to show your interest.
Remember the FORMULA for building relationship will improve your Networking! By the way...did I tell you I have 2 sons and 4 grandchildren?
Please share your thoughts and comments...
Ray Ellis, Master Solutionary at The Center for Dialogic Leadership, LLC is a consultant, dynamic facilitator and speaker. His is working on writing short stories of his experiences titled "Inside Up...from the Shop Floor to the Ninth Floor and Three more to Go!"
Great! Yes, I would also add C for curious - what are you curious about - a problem you have observed in the news, something around you at the moment or talked about at the event.
Oops, incomplete comment posted. I was designing connected networking questioning techniques on the specific topics based on F.O.R.M.U.L.A. 1) What is your number one concern about F.O.R.M.U.L.A. 2) Why do you choose that? 3) Why is it so important to you? 4) What if you cannot do anything about it? 5) Do you want to know what to do about it? Yes - "Here's how" (if you know how). "This is what I would do" (if you are not sure). No - "Let me share my story (if you have a similar one). "Please let me share my story (need not be related) There are both inquiry and disclosure which build trust and then further conversations.
What is your number 1 concern about you F.O.R.M.U.
So simple.
Great advice for people trying to broaden their networking skills.