What’s the worst situation to be in at a networking event? Standing alone in the corner! What’s the second worst situation to be in? Getting stuck with the one who is standing alone in the corner! Not knowing anyone before entering a network event is so terrifying, not because you feel uncomfortable yourself, but because of how you are looked upon by the rest of the attendants. No one wants to speak with you because of the
This is the brutal reality at networking events hence you will need some serious survival skills to make it through networking events where you know no one. I recently read a good blog about the number 1 networking survival tip courtesy of Christopher Barrat. Stay away from singles and couples but join a threesome and you will have great conversations without it being too crowded in a larger group where people are just trying to prove themselves instead of having meaningful conversations. In order to make sure you don’t break up a group of friends you can also look at how open the group of three is positioned.
While being single in general might have its advantages there are absolutely no advantages of being single in a networking world and every time you attend a networking event you have to find open groups of threes. For introverts especially this is a tough reality and will lead to most of them shying away from most networking events however in a networking world no one can really afford to do that. Sure, you can build a large network online by forging loose relationships, but at the end of the day you got to get out there and meet your connections. Therefore I have made getting better at networking a must win battle for myself and take comfort in the fact that no one really feels very comfortable with networking. It just always seems that way because you see people standing around and talking to each other. Maybe they are there with friends, maybe they know the community or perhaps they have just applied tip number 1 above. No matter what it is successful networking is for you too or put in another way you simply can’t afford not to do it.
Please share your stories of how you overcame fears of networking or how you look upon singles and couples in the networking world?