What is your favorite networking starter question?
It was great to see several of you at the Get Clients Now! (TM) overview workshop last night at Borders Bookstore! I am so glad you could join me for the event! Thanks to the SAPCA coaches who attended too!
We included a couple rounds of networking in the workshop and it was fun to see the energy as people met and talked with the other people at the event.
That got me to thinking about meeting new people at networking events…
I get tired of the old standard “What do you do?” question. You too? I have been experimenting with some alternatives, and thought I would share them with you:
What excites you about your work?
What is your favorite aspect of your business?
What do you love about what you do?
These questions seem to help the conversation move away from plain descriptive comments and into more energy and passion…always more fun to talk about and a nice change of pace.
I would love to hear from you…what questions do you like to use when you meet someone for the first time at a business networking event? Please use the Comment link to share your favorite!
I have written a new set of tips about ways to make the most of networking events…would you like me to share them through this blog?
~Leslie
July 21st, 2006 at 8:23 pm
I am always interested in new tips about business. By the way, the work shop was very helpful. I plan to attend more when I am in town and not on the road or on a ship.
July 22nd, 2006 at 7:22 am
One question that is always a great starter is…”What’s the biggest misconception about what you do?”
Try it out next time.
July 22nd, 2006 at 9:12 am
What is your favorite Networking starter question? Now that’s a pretty darn good question! As a graduate of the Certified Networker Program (CNP), I learned that Networking is all about establishing relationships. If we go to a Networking event looking for business, we seldom find it there. If we go to these events looking to make new relationships, we usually make some. I like the odds with the “relationship” approach better.
So my suggestion, if you’ll permit, is to focus on questions that are relationship based versus business based. Try and find some questions to use that strike up conversations about the people you meet, not so much about their business. Once you get to know someone, you can get to know his or her business. Put people first and the business opportunities will come.”
To each his own”, so I won’t offer a list of specific questions that work for me. My only recommendation is to avoid the old, “What’s your sign?” That went out with gold chains, Nik-Nik shirts and double knit leisure suits. However, I really like your question, “What do you love about what you do?” That’s an icebreaker that’ll thaw about anyone. If it doesn’t, I think to myself, “next” and move one!