Early in 2022, I was delighted to host a webinar for our OWIT UK community on How to Network: Why networking skills are important?
We all know this famous quote from Coco Chanel, “ You don’t get a second chance to make a first impression” and that is why mastering a few techniques when you start networking will set you up for success..and yes..will make your networking easier too!
During this webinar I focused on 3 areas:
- Sharing practical tips to help you start networking with confidence
- Thinking about what new skills you need to develop
- Recognising what’s working well for you already
In this blog I am sharing a few tips and questions, which you may want to consider and start practicing during your next networking event:
- Preparation: Yes, like anything in life; good preparation can help. This step is about starting to plan: what and which events you want to attend during the year – Why? What are you trying to achieve with your networking goals for the year? Based on that, you can start planning and preparing for your “selected” events.
- During the event: Have you consider how you will introduce yourself? Do you have your “elevator” pitch ready? How are you going to “show up”? Are you in a good mood? What is your state of mind as you walk into the room? These questions are here to help you think about your presence in the networking room and how you want people to remember you.
- Managing the room: You are now in the mist of networking. People have arrived, and you are chatting with people…but how will you move around the room? Have you asked the organisers to point you towards people that you might be interested in meeting? Do you have a few questions or topics up your sleeves – ready to engage some conversations? ..and how will you move from one person to another? The aim is to try to at least to meet 5-6 new people. Make sure you are respectful of the other person. Why not say something like, “Great meeting you. Why don’t we go and try to meet other people together?“
- After the event: Following up after a networking event is where the real magic can happen. Make sure you always follow up on actions you said you would do: for example it could be about sharing an interesting blog, sending information about something you spoke about, making a follow up call, organising a coffee…if you promised something – please make a note and do it. This is a great way to make an impact with the other person. Spend time to nurture these new relationships you just created!.
I hope you enjoyed some of the above tips, and that they arehelping you think about networking in a more focused approach.
If you are interested in finding out more about this topic and skill, here is a link for further reading: The 8 Best Networking Books of 2022 (thebalancecareers.com).
And, if you are working in the world of international trade or any activity that requires you meeting people, I am sure you can see how important these skills are. So, to take one step forward, why not get in touch with OWIT UK to see how you can connect with more like-minded people – by joining us, attending our event and bring your networking skills to life!
As you can see, OWIT UK helps to open up access to more markets as we make connections globally. We invite you to join us as members and avail yourself of the opportunities for business growth and upskilling in all things international trade.
We encourage membership from all over the UK, from suppliers to the industry, from entrepreneurs, women-owned or led businesses and from all SMEs, regardless of gender, who support our aims. Please browse through our website for joining details, sign up for our newsletter and join us at our events. Our next event will be on our website shortly.
Contact us on CONTACT US – OWIT UK, join us JOIN US – OWIT UK, follow us on linkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/company/owit-uk/ and other social media: Instagram, Facebook.
Véronique Rapetti, VP, OWIT UK
About the author of this blog: Véronique Rapetti, is one of our founding member and VP (Meet Véronique Rapetti – OWIT UK) . She brings a lot of experience in the world of leadership and personal development, entrepreneurship and strategy execution. She has worked in many international roles across various industry, founded a b2b training business, for over 8 years worked within the London entrepreneurial start-up eco-system. She is always keen to share her experience and knowledge of starting, launching, funding and growing a start-up/business as a business mentor. Currently she is the Product & Learning Experiences Manager at Insights ( www.insights.com), President of the young chamber of commerce F-GB (www.jccfb.org) . Connect with her on linkedIn, with a message ref OWITUK : Véronique Rapetti | LinkedIn
