CAREER DEVELOPMENT

Networking conversations – Secrets to doing it. 

We have always emphasized on the importance of networking. This is very important in getting the right job for you. You may think that networking is a preserve of those already in the job market but there are even a lot of avenues through which you can connect with corporate leaders even at the beginning of your career. Today, we will focus on the way to start a networking conversation in order to avoid embarrassment and negative responses.

In order to get the right job, you do not have any other option but to network. Whether you already are in job or starting your career. This is the fastest way to get a good job and here the emphasis is on the word good job.  In most conversations, many people end up telling, rather than asking or selling, rather than connecting. Be the smart guy and always leave an impression on someone you talk to. Imagine you are in symposia in college and an HR guy from a certain company is presenting, how will you talk to him/ her thereafter or if you were in a cocktail, what happens when you start a conversation.

The world is changing very fast and today, life is like one big cocktail party. Your success depends on your ability to become a brilliant conversationalist. It's not enough to merely get noticed: We have to go further, engaging people to connect with us. That's the key to meeting them, befriending them, teaching them, persuading them, leading them, and inspiring them. Remember soliloquies don't earn attention. Conversations do.

The smartest people and companies don't just talk, they inspire, advocate and challenge. They get under the skin and into any conversations they so desire. They're unafraid to ask questions and along the way, to change the way others think.

The main point of difference from others comes from differentiating between selling and connecting. This shift from selling to connecting is emerging as the important factor for many authority figures. As they always say a conversation is shared power. But monologues don't work. The most popular brands understand that first and foremost, their role is to connect. In order to do so, they must attract and engage people into a conversation.

So how can you start conversations, whether you're a person or a brand?

Here below are key points and pointers to how you can start intelligent conversations:

1. Ask questions: Seems obvious but listening is all too rare. Job applicants always spend more time thinking through their talking points than asking smart questions. Yet it's your questions, rather than your recitation of your CV, that will impress an interviewer.
2. Understand your audience's true motivations: Steer the discussion to your audience's true concerns. For instance, if you're a brand manager, in order to show a consumer how your product fits into her life, you need to know what keeps her awake at night.
3. Smile: Make it as easy as possible for others to talk to you. A friendly approach can overcome their self-consciousness or indifference. Whether your smile is literal or metaphoric, you have to make people want to interact with you.
4. Let go of control: Sometimes, the hardest part of engaging in a conversation is letting down your guard. Be prepared to reveal aspects of your true personality.
5. Know the person you connect with well: Chemistry comes from finding points of connection: The more you know about someone, the more likely you are to find those points. For example knowing where someone went to school, what their interests are, and how they convey themselves online can't hurt.
6. Unseen conversation: Always maintain eye contact and your gestures should be professional. Avoid hot drinks when talking to someone or others that contain a lot of caffeine or heavily fermented. Hold your drink with the right hand almost a safe distance from your chest and at a good height. Keep good distance and don’t forget your mint.

We normally advice that you give control of the conversation to the person you are trying to connect with but not too much because you also have to be seen conversing. Do not pocket your hands but hold them in a little bit of submission but not too much desperation.

Now that you have read this, go out and get them. Connect, connect and connect.