You can be successful with networking regularly converting those you meet at business networking events near me into clients. But is it really that easy? 

There is an art and skill to networking that we all need to learn and practice, then re-learn and re-practice if we haven’t done it in a while. Start by preparing a one-liner, that is, a one sentence response to the question, “What do you do?” Then say it out loud, modify it, say it out loud again many times, recording yourself on your phone either in audio only or audio and video, until you are happy with it. Then, practice saying it without looking at your writing, over and over until you have it memorized. Practice on your friends, your pets, while walking, or doing something else outside of your house, until it becomes natural.

Being transactional in nature isn’t always effective, and if you talk too long about what you do it can turn others off and push them away, making them wanting to avoid you in the future. Avoidance = no client. Instead, say what you do briefly and concisely, only including the most important words you want them to absorb and remember. We only remember 20% of what we hear, and with many different people to talk to at a networking event, they won’t remember much of what you have to say. They may remember a bit, more importantly, they will remember how you made them feel. If you took an interest in what they are doing by asking them questions, saying nice things about what they had to say and asking follow-up questions. It’s good to start a conversation by talking about something OTHER THAN what you do – this is called, building, “rapport” (aka small talk). For example, you could say,

• STATEMENT: “The weather is beautiful today.” This is not a question, but, it implies that you are looking for a comment on your statement
• COMPLIMENT: You could start by giving a genuine compliment, like, Iove your earrings/glasses/suit/cuff link/shoes/purses, where did you get them? If you are a man, it would be best to say overall, “you look great,” as it might make some women or other men feel uncomfortable.
• QUESTION: You could also ask a question like:
  • “Are you from around here?”
  • “How long did it take you to get here tonight?”
  • “Are you from [name of city the event is in]?”
  • “How’s your day been going?” (If they say good, ask a follow-up question, like, “Lots of meetings?” It’s important to get them to open up a bit to find out things you have in common.