Networking Tips #5 - Know What You Want

Know what you want from an event.  Again this sounds like an obvious one but many people turn up at an event and don't really have any expectations of what they want to achieve by attending.

You're spending your precious time and resources on being there, so it makes sense to get the most from it.

This doesn't mean pressing your business card firmly into the hands of everyone you meet.

It doesn't mean giving a sales pitch to as many people as possible.

It doesn't mean speaking to every single person in the room - you'll be lucky if you speak to half a dozen new people at any one event.

If you really want to maximise the number of people you talk to, then go along to a Speed Networking Event.  Here you're more likely to meet everyone who's in the room and at least find out a little about all of them.

Decide what you want before you get there.

- Plan to meet a certain number of new people.
- Plan to reconnect with people you know.
- Plan to meet one or two key contacts if you know who's going.

If you're sent a list of attendees - make a note of who you want to talk to before you get there. Perhaps there are people you recognise or people you'd like to talk to.

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