Drop the Elevator Speech at Networking Events and Improvise your way to Genuine Connections & More Clients
Drop the Elevator Speech at Networking Events and Improvise your way to Genuine Connections & More Clients
Not getting the results you want from networking events?!
Are you finding that, other than saying Hello to your co-workers and getting some free snacks, networking events are a waste of time? Are you thinking about skipping them?
Some networking events aren’t worth it; but, most of them are great opportunities to make connections, business relationships, and eventually clients and business. Perhaps, the problem is your approach, rather than the networking event.
Take a few moments and think about how you present yourself:
Are you “working the room?” Are you moving from person to person sharing everything possible about yourself and your company’s great products or services? Are you a walking commercial for your company, instead of being human. At the end of the event, do you have a handful of business cards but you didn’t make a single good connection?
Try a different approach. Use improv techniques and principles instead.
Don’t instantly make conversations about yourself. Slow down. Be present. Listen for understanding, not just to respond and to turn the conversation about yourself and your business.
Rather than filtering through people at a networking event, like a prospector in the old west sifting through sand in search of a nugget of gold, look at each person as the valuable, unique individual they already are. Treat them as the unique individual they are.
Improv teaches us that each person and each idea is golden. When the person you meet talks about something, stick with that topic and add something to it. Add something relevant that’s not about you.
We call this Yes, And in improv. It’s how scenes are seemingly created out of thin air. They’re not. The improvisers agree with what is said and they add onto it. Of course, in conversations, we’re going to Yes, and the other person and make it about them.
At the NAIFA meeting the other day, the National Association of Insurance and Financial Advisers in Chesterfield, the St Louis Branch where I conducted a keynote workshop, members participated in a highly interactive program that helped them to think and react on their feet.
Towards the end of the event, I asked how they could use these improv techniques and skills they learned in their own work and in their marketing. In addition to personal “Aha” moments, many stated these improv skills will help them in marketing and at meetings, networking events and conferences.
This improv-based approach works for a couple of reasons: 1) You’ll develop a relationship that will last beyond the conversation 2) If the person is a good match, they will be far more likely to take your call when you follow up. 3) Listening is the greatest gift you can give to someone. People do business with folks they like and trust. 4) It’s how human beings should treat one another 5) You’re creating a better world and you’ll have more fun 6) You will learn so much when you stop talking and start listening
Slow down. Be Genuine and authentic at these events. Don’t just collect business cards or Linked In contacts. Make the moments count. The folks you meet will take your call when you follow up with them. Prospects will turn into clients. People will want to do business with you.
Think like an improviser in business. Let’s talk about your company’s needs and whether an improv-based training program can help your group. Message me or go to the contact page of my website.
