I recently experienced the effect of setting a goal before going to a business gathering, a networking event.
Let me give you an example of the effect.
Rae-Ann Ruszkowski was going to receive an award for her work at Working Wardrobes, a charitable organization that helps people in challenging situations enter the workforce and achieve self-sufficiency. She invited me to attend the event.
I was going to arrive at the event before Rae-Ann. She half-jokingly said that when she got there, I’d be in the middle of a circle of 10 people.
I thought, “Yeow, what a demand!”
Things flowed. I met people, who introduced me to people, who introduced me to more people. I showed them that I was actively working on remembering their names.
I described this situation in most of my recent LACE sessions. I said to my afternoon group: “Luckily, when Rae-Ann arrived, I had a semi-circle of 8 people in front of me.” A lady in the audience said, “No, you weren’t lucky. You had a goal going in and realized it.” (Wow! I’m supposed to say that !!!)
Here are 5 good goal ideas for you before going to a networking event:
- Just going in the first place. Sometimes this is the hardest thing for people. No matter what the outcome – your focus is to go, get familiar with the surroundings, and see how it works / who attends. (Know this – you have no idea how many people there are as uncomfortable as you!).
- Make 3 new contacts.
- Approach a group of at least 3 people carrying on an active conversation.
- Research someone from the association’s LinkedIn group, and meet them in person.
- Remember the names of everyone you meet. Read my Remembering Names post for some tips on what to practice.
There you have it – having a simple networking goal or objective (such as just going to the darn thing) or a complex one (such as finding at least 3 potential business referral partners, or potential companies to submit a job application to) – actually sets your mind into a success position before you even arrive at the event!
Looking forward to seeing you at the next Networking event!
Victor
No Comments Yet