4 Networking Meeting Don’ts

By Connie Hampton,Hampton & Associates

Scientific & Executive Search ServicesNetwork Polish Kit

•Networking can frighten people into doing things that they would not normally do. Is this you?

Don’t:• Stand with your back to the wall, your

arms crossed and your eyes on your shoes.

• This is the stance of the wallflower and is not at all inviting to your potential networking partners.

Do:• Step away from the wall, plaster a smile on your face (or think of something amusing so that you can smile and not frighten the horses).

Do:• Look around for someone

standing alone (perhaps with their back to the wall, arms crossed and looking at their shoes) and go greet them and ask what they think of the meeting so far.

Don’t:• Hide your name tag by putting on

your purse or your shoe or down by your waist

• You are making it that much harder for the person you are meeting to remember your name

• If you put your name tag on your left lapel but shake with your right hand, the name tag will be angled away from the person you are meeting.

Do:•Put your name tag near your face on your right shoulder

• Humans learn in many different ways and one is by reading as well as hearing.

Don’t:•Forget your business cards.

Do: • Leave the back of your card blank or at least not shiny –it is a great place for the person to whom you are giving it to take a note or two about the conversation.

Do: • Write a note on the back of theirs

– What did you talk about?

– What can you send them (a resource or link to something interesting)?

– When should you contact them?

– Where did you meet them (obvious at the time, but not so much when you find the card on your desk)?

Don’t•Forget to follow up with the people from whom you collected cards

Do:•Follow-up within 24-48 hours

Remember:• The whole point of the networking

exercise and business cards is to follow up with the people afterwards.

• And, since networking is about giving and getting, be sure to give something that the other person will find useful or funny or interesting or professional or (whatever you want to be known for).

For More Information

• Connie Hampton

• Network Polish Kit, a service of Hampton & Associates Scientific and Executive Search Services

• Web: networkpolishkit.com

• Phone: (510) 601-1343

• Email: connie@networkpolishkit.com