Gain Confidence in Setting-Up & Conducting Networking Activities
Your assignment is to find 3 people daily to start a conversation with. For some of you this will be easy and for others, we know you are pushing yourself outside your comfort Zone. Award yourself special bonus points when the person you start a conversation with is someone you haven’t spoken with. Award your self double bonus points if this person is someone you would describe as “not like me”. Not like me can be anything; height, race, faith, sex, interests, etc. The point is to practice now so you gain the confidence you will need through out your career. Diversity is important and and you will end up working with people who are not like you. The more comfortable you are with this the better.
Do this for a month and it will become a natural habit and you will enjoy not only meeting other people but your confidence will grow as well.
(See below under Chance Occasions).
Being prepared and having confidence will play a big role in the success of your networking outcome. Networking, meeting, and talking with people happens on three occasions which are:
- Chance occasions
- Group events
- Solo one-on-one meeting
*We focus on the first two occasions in this lesson, as the solo one-on-one meeting will be addressed in our lesson on informational interviews.
Chance Occasions:
Practice starting and having conversations. Set a goal to start up a conversation whenever you’re standing in line or waiting to be served. Have a list of your “go-to” conversation starters. We have a list of suggested conversation starters and a worksheet where you can pick your Top 10 Go-To Conversation Starters. By being prepared with conversation starters, you can choose to direct the conversation to areas you are interested and are confident in discussing.
This is the only way to get comfortable and gain confidence…and it is simple! You never know who you will meet, what you may learn, or where this relationship may lead and you never know, you may be helping someone who is longing to meet someone new.
Think of this as FREE practice!
Complete the Top 10 Conversations Starters Worksheet found in the lesson materials. This contains over 100 conversation starters to choose from.
