How to meet people
How to meet peopleOne important skill in life is the ability to build relationships. Networking means the ability to communicate openly and get to know people, freely ask them for help, advice or advice.
Like any other skill, networking needs to be pumped up. Make a positive impression. Try to make a good impression in the first minutes of acquaintance. Introduce yourself, name the position and the company, talk about its mission and your role in achieving it. You will never get a second chance to make a good first impression. Prepare in advance a short story about yourself or a project concept that you can voice while riding in the elevator. Talk about yourself and how you can be useful in the future.
Join small groups of people. Intervening in the conversation of strangers sounds intimidating to many people. If you find it difficult to fit in with a group, look for those who stand on the sidelines. You don’t have to be an extrovert to get to know people easily. In a meeting where there are a lot of strangers, you can group with singles. Smile, introduce yourself, and ask what they do.
Tell something unusual about yourself. In large groups it’s hard to remember names and who does what. If you say something interesting about yourself, even if it’s not related to the topic of the meeting – you will be remembered for sure. For example, you are preparing for the first marathon in your life – talk about it.
Focus on the quality of your contacts. You can spend the whole evening talking to everyone, but in the end, this communication will not work. The task of networking is to make reliable connections, there is no point in superficial ones. The quality of contacts is more important than quantity. Find a common language. Since ancient times, we conventionally divide people into “us” and “them”. When we get acquainted, we unwittingly look for similarities, something in common. So the brain is trying to recognize the other person. For example, you both managed to test a new app, or it turns out that you subscribe to the same blog. “We” means “I like you,” and that’s a good start to a relationship.
Listen more than you talk. Networking is a two-way process; you don’t want to talk about yourself all the time and turn the conversation into a monologue. Often people like to talk only about themselves, their business and successes. Few people listen to others, although pure magic happens – people become interested in you when you curiously listen to them and are not trying to sell something rather.
Offer help. When people get to know each other, they mostly want to learn information, meet the right people, talk about the product, and so on. Networking is a two-way street, think about how to be different. Skills, acquaintances and knowledge can come in handy because 80% of people want to get something when they meet. Better to be part of the other 20% who are uncompensated and want to be helpful.
Stay in touch. The golden rule of networking is that if you agree on something, do it. It doesn’t matter if you’ve been in touch with an old acquaintance or a new one. To keep the relationship going, stay in touch. Add a new acquaintance on social media and take the time the next day to thank them in an email or message for communicating. Consider what you can send as an addendum to the conversation-an article, a link to a video, or a presentation.
