Do you despise networking?
Do you find it difficult to walk in a room and start up a conversation with complete strangers?
Meeting new people in a social or professional environment can be very daunting for introverts and easier for extroverts. That is completely normal and can be a skill set that can be learned. Some personality types just aren’t cut out for it.
It may be a skill set you have to learn in your role at work or simply you just need to get out and meet more people on a social level instead of sitting on the couch watching Netflix.
It is an important skill for everyone to know how to strike up a conversation with someone you don’t know and do it genuinely and not come across fake.
One thing I have learned to do is to read the person you are about to walk up to and work out in 5 seconds what personality type they fall into:
- Sporty
- IT
- Professional
- Conservative
- Creative
Always start with easy questions once you have introduced yourself, keep it relaxed and informal. With men you usually can’t go wrong if you bring up the topic of sports, for IT professions, talk about the latest IPhone coming out next or the latest update and how crap it is! That will create some interesting chatter for a while.
For social people think of a recent concert or other relevant entertainer that has just performed or coming to town. It helps to watch the news and keep up with what’s happening in the world, your community or new gadgets in the market to be able to strike up an impromptu conversation with someone.
According to the New York Times, 65% of new business comes from networking and according to ABC News 80% of jobs happen through networking.
So, my advice is the quicker you ‘Get Over It’ the more income you’re going to make because that’s where your income is coming from.
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