Does walking into a room of people at a networking event fill you with nerves? If you’re nodding right now, I was absolutely with you until a few years ago.
I’ll never forget my first networking event – it was a black tie dinner at Headingley Cricket Ground in around 2011. I’d gone along under my boss’ instruction to make contacts and I walked in and saw a room full of people who all looked like they knew each other – I turned on my heels and hid in the toilets for 20 minutes before they called us to sit at our tables. I had sweaty palms and a strong urge to run away. Twelve years on I can tell you that those people likely didn’t know each other and probably would have welcomed a newbie with open arms – but at the time I wanted to dive in a taxi and get out of there!
It’s true what they say, networking does become easier with time and practice. To help you navigate networking events more smoothly, I have a few tips that might come in handy!
I strongly believe that building your community as a self employed business owner/freelancer makes solo working more meaningful, more connected and can lead to more work as everyone wants to help each other out. Here are some of my top tips below to make networking easier and make the most of it!
Before the event, check out the organisers’ Instagram/LinkedIn to see who else is posting about the event. You might be able to follow/connect with them before the event to make walking into the room easier. Consider mentioning in passing that you’ve not been before – good organisers will help introduce you to people!
Find something you feel comfortable in – and if it’s got pockets, even better! Pockets are great for your phone (more on this later!) and business cards. I spent years in pencil skirts and heels (I see you 2015!), but now I’m much happier in a bright print and a pair of flats.
Even if you practice your intro in front of the mirror, and even if it’s not perfect, the most common question you’ll be asked is ‘What do you do?’. I always keep it short and sweet and tell people ‘I work with small businesses to help them with action planning and accountability – especially creatively minded businesses with lots of ideas’. Even better if you can tailor it to what the person does! Stood on the edge of a group and not sure how to get involved – a simple line such as ‘do you mind if I join you?’ can work wonders!
A cup of tea, a biscuit, a glass of water and a printed out programme can do a great job of grounding you and helping ease nerves. These props also provide a reason to move around the room and meet new people. Grabbing a fresh cup of tea, or nipping to the loo, can be great reasons to circulate and start conversations.
The likelihood is that people at the event will be coming on their own, and that big group you’ve spotted chatting? They’ve probably just met! Have some lines ready to help chatting easier and remember, most people like to talk about their business so if you’re feeling nervous, just get lots of questions lined up. I find useful follow up questions that help you get to know someone include ‘How long have you been doing that for?’, ‘Do you specialise in anything in particular?’, ‘How did you get into that?’, ‘How long have you been doing that for?’.
The purpose of attending networking events is not solely to gain something tangible. You’re likely there because you love your business, and that passion will shine through. You can make a few LinkedIn connections, snap a photo to share later, or enjoy a nice coffee and it’s still worthwhile for building your networking confidence and determining if the event is a good fit for you.
Try and speak to a few different people to build your confidence and meet different people who you may be able to work with in the future. If you are talking to someone for a long time and would like to chat to someone else, you could suggest that you need to grab a coffee, water, loo trip, to check an email, etc.
Connect with people on LinkedIn and take some pictures/video clips for social media! Get to grips with LinkedIn’s QR code scanning search function – it makes it a lot easier to add people and it’s still fairly new to people so can be a nice icebreaker too!
Some are amazing and filled with exactly your kind of people, others will leave you wondering why you turned up as they’re not quite the right fit for you (and that’s ok!). Give new events a chance but if they’re not your bag, you don’t need to go to the next one!
I meet so many people who write off networking as a whole after a few bad experiences – I’d really encourage you to try different ones to see which one fits before writing it off as a bad thing for your business!
Make a mental (or actual!) note of who you spoke to and tag them in a post afterwards or if you had a great chat, drop them a message to say hi. I’ve had some lovely coffees and Zoom calls following on from networking events that have lead to work and friendships.
Do you go networking regularly? Let me know if you’ve got any other top tips to add! Next time I’ll be talking about how to be a kind networker to make it easier to ease the nerves of newbies!
