How to Achieve Networking Success

Written by Tricia Barendregt.

At Careers Over Coffee North on Friday, June 12, we discussed how to achieve networking success. Patti DeNucci showed us how to “connect with your people, not more people” and shared her top secrets for successful networking.

The discussion kicked off with an exercise. Patti paired us up with partners and had us ask each other three great questions:

What brought you here?
What do you intend to learn?
What are you going to do with it?

We were quick to discover that sharing the answers to these questions deepened the connection between partners. Patti explained these are great networking questions to use whenever you attend an event.

Other tips:

Write down your intentions before an event. Think about whom you want to meet and write it down.
Prepare questions before hand.
Write on notecards if you need to.
Go to an event early to help ease yourself into it.

Be the person that connects. Helping others can take the pressure of you.

Follow up and give them something (for ex: more info on a topic they discussed).
Don’t sell to them.
Be gracious when abandoning awkward conversations.

Before wrapping up, Patti assigned a homework assignment to get us thinking more intentional about our networking. She asked us to ask ourselves the following questions:

Who are you on your best day?
What are your interactions like on your best day?
What are you able to accomplish on your best day?
What do you do for yourself to make it your best day?
What is stopping you from having the best day?

For more info on The Intentional Networker and Patti DeNucci, check out her blog here http://www.intentionalnetworker.com/category/blog/ and buy her book here http://www.intentionalnetworker.com/books/.

We had a great turnout, good questions and a terrific group of Women Communicators of Austin! We are grateful to Patti for sharing her expertise. Also, we appreciate the WCA ladies who braved the 8 a.m. traffic to share and connect. Thank you to all!

Join us for our next CoC North on Friday, July 10 for Navigating The Negotiation Process – It’s Not Just About $$$! Careers Over Coffee North meets at Mimi’s Café, 10515 N. Mopac Expy NB #O) on the south end of The Shops at Arbor Walk).