Quang Do

My favourite first question to a stranger: What brings you here today? This open ended and low pressure question can either be answered short and humorous or long and detailed. Either way you will have a way to build up on the response. You will also be asked what brought you to the event. So you already have a minimum of 2 things in the pipeline to talk about. Great way to let the conversation flow naturally from there.

There are 2 ways to get anyone to do something: you force them or you make them want to do it. The best is the latter. How? By incentivising or motivating them—either extrinsically or intrinsically. Intrinsic is best. And hardest. To get there, you need to deeply understand what that person cares about—and then tightly link what you want them to do to what they want. In sales we call this ‘discovery’ and it’s the most crucial part of any sales process. Everything follows the discovery. Where I see some leaders fall short is that they lack to align the business objective to the employees’ personal wants. It’s more often the other way around. Looking for the root cause should always start there—what does the person care about most?

You should have your life story and mission ready to tell in different ways and versions and at all times—not just in preparation for a networking event. The good thing: you know yourself best, what’s deeply important to you and which aspirations you have. Put that together into compelling ways to introduce and present yourself. The other good thing: once you have reflected on and crafted an initial version, you get to refine it through repetition in all social moments, including networking events. You will develop a toolbox of intros and stories about yourself from which you can choose from, depending on who you talk to. You will learn what lands well with whom and what doesn’t. Do this always and you’ll be ready for any event.

Before doing anything (research, learn jargon, etc.), always ask yourself first why you attend and what outcome would make the event an success for you. Doing so prior is absolute key to even know what to prepare and research. Networking is typically about connecting with people. Hence, it‘s much more important to research the people than any industry knowledge or trends. Research in advance who will attend and what they‘re doing. Find commonalities and mutual connections to prepare possible openers. Leverage LinkedIn for that. Check articles, publications or any blog and podcasts that they appear in or have created. This shows that you‘re prepared and will impress much more than just knowing the latest industry publications.