Article
PowerNetworking
for Success
"Networking is a threshold skill - Master It!"
CREATING
YOUR 30-SECOND COMMERCIAL
By
Felicia Davis
Has this ever happened to you?
You're invited to attend a business function where several industry
experts and company leaders are present. This is your moment to shine,
to market your capabilities, to discuss what you have to offer but
you fail to capitalize on the opportunity because you are not prepared
to clearly articulate your value proposition…Ouch! If this scenario
sounds familiar, it is okay - it happens to the best of us! J HOWEVER,
you should be prepared for that next grand encounter -- but first,
consider the alarming but true statistic to the left:
Given that statistic, one could argue that mastering the art of networking
is a threshold skill. It is said that people generally form impressions
of others within the first 20 to 30 seconds of that first encounter.
Therefore, it is important that you understand the art of networking
and building relationships. Networking is a long-term activity because
it takes time to build a good network. Your relationship-building
campaign should be "planned, targeted and intentional".
This process starts with formulating good 30-second introduction that
has the impact necessary to elicit a meaningful dialogue with the
individual. Your personal commercial should be clear, concise, distinctive
and engaging. It should emphasize who you are and the solutions that
you offer. For example, as a HR professional, I do performance consulting
to assist both employees and organizations with bridging the gap between
where they are and where they want to be. This introduction not only
tells you who I am (HR Professional) and what I do (Performance Consulting)
but also what happens as a result of what I do (employee and organizational
performance gaps are bridged).
75-80%
of all jobs are found through networking.
They never make it to the newspapers, recruiters, temporary agencies
or the Internet.
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While
attending networking events, it is important to keep it moving. Resist
the temptation to be stationary and miss opportunities for interaction
with others. If you think you will have a difficult time approaching
others at first, there is a wonderful technique that usually works
in attracting others to you by stimulating curiosity, which leads
to conversation. Try creating a tag line for your name badge. One
great tag line that I recently noticed came from a sales person with
a prominent consulting firm. She identifies herself as the: "Queen
of Connections" In fact, she takes it a step further by incorporating
it as a part of her personal branding campaign by including it in
emails, voicemail as well as on business cards. Think of an interesting
word or phrase that best describes you and add it to your name badge
at your next networking event. The results of this technique will
help ease the transition as you work to master your networking skills.
Your first few networking encounters will not be easy but practice
makes perfect. After all, in this particular job, you are the CEO
of your career and if you do not take the time to manage it properly,
no one else will.
So start networking….the results can be very rewarding!
Felicia Davis is the President of Davis Consulting Group and creator
of the popular newsletters, The HR Training Ground and Next Level
Leadership. For personal or organizational inquiries or to subscribe
to newsletters, please send your requests to newsletter@feliciadavis.com.
