A presentation at WordCamp Jackson in in Jackson, MI, USA by Wesley Faulkner
A Guide to Networking How to be Interested
Wesley Faulkner My Experience o o o o Minority Immigrant Not wealthy Parents weren’t educated 2
The Advantages of Networking Learn new perspectives Help others Grow your self-esteem 3
Why is it So Hard? o o o o It’s uncomfortable. Who do I talk to? What do I talk about? Most people are bad at it. 4
What We’ve Been Taught o o o o o o o Transactional Dominance People like to talk about themselves Firm handshake Give out your card Ask them what they do Show off your knowledge 5
The Basics Be Engaged o o o o o o Eye contact Smile People want to be wholly seen Don’t interrupt Listen – don’t focus on what you want to say next Stay away from the unaligned 6
Tips Arrive early. Scout the venue. Stay out of the way of high traffic areas. How to engage Focus on the journey. Find other singles. Don’t assume, use inclusive language. Stay away from status (class, money, title, access, education.) How to leave the conversation Bathroom, food or drink Follow up LinkedIn, email, Twitter, Facebook, SMS, Instagram, WhatsApp. Don’t over do it 7
Summary o o o o o It’s okay to be uncomfortable Be interested Focus on the journey Don’t waste your time on the unaligned Follow up 8
Thank You! Contact / Questions Wesley Faulkner wesley.faulkner@mongodb.com @wesley83 linkedin.com/in/wesley83 9
Preview of Part 2 – How to be Interesting o o o o o o o Don’t be the expert, be vulnerable and relatable. Deflect separation statements. Don’t make it about you. Add to the conversation, the redirect it back. Be yourself, feel free to disagree. How to integrate into a table/cluster of people. How to interrupt a conversation. 10
There’s a lot about modern networking that we all should un-learn. Showing off your knowledge and targeting the “important” connections is the wrong approach. If you genuinely want to be an effective networker, you have to shift away from looking at these interactions as transactional. That said, it’s still hard to find people to talk to, and even harder to know to start up a conversation. I’ll give you tips that will help you work through those issues and ultimately make you more comfortable in new spaces with new people. You’ll come away from this presentation with advice you can put to use immediately.
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