Networking is an essential aspect of your career; you can create mutually beneficial relationships that will help you to climb the career ladder. There is etiquette within the networking community, and this should be followed at all times.
- Preparation
For any networking event, you mustn’t go completely unprepared. If you are going to a networking event, you must prepare by finding out who will attend the event and researching them and their background. This is important as you can begin preparing conversational topics that you can bring about at the event.
- Speaking
It is important that you make sure you speak properly without the use of slang and that you introduce yourself in the same manner. Don’t introduce yourself by a nickname or abbreviation; use your full name so that you can ooze professionalism. Make sure that you enunciate and speak properly, not mumbling or speaking in a hushed voice.
- Body language
Body language is critical at networking events, as 90% of communication is nonverbal, your body language can say quite a lot. You must maintain eye contact at all times as this signals honesty, confidence, and trustworthiness. It is pretty quickly noticed if a person is not maintaining eye contact, especially at networking events where people are professionals at these events with a lot of experience. Another important aspect of body language at a networking event is your posture. This often affects people’s impressions. People often view people who slouch as lazier and less employable.
- Engagement
You must engage with people; that is, after all, the event’s purpose; there’s no point in being the wallflower and sitting around waiting for people to come to you. Go out there and make conversation with people. The more people you talk to, the more opportunities you have to have mutually beneficial relationships with these people. Having contacts in networking is crucial. If you find yourself in the position of wanting another job or resources, you may use your mutually beneficial relationships with people to further your opportunity.
- Concise
You can be clear and concise when you are answering questions from people at the event. If you ramble on and on, you will often find yourself being avoided by people, as a conversation with you is very time-consuming. You don’t want to come across as literally spilling out your entire resume when a person asks you what you do and what your role is.
Concise answers would keep the conversation flowing and stop with any awkwardness if you spent a long time rolling off your life story, as often people really don’t know what to say in response.
It would be best if you kept the tone appropriate, don’t start telling people how hungover you are or what you got up to last night; keep it professional.
