As a natural introvert myself, my earliest experiences with networking were not particularly positive. Back in the noughties, business networking often felt like a competition to see who could shout the loudest about how great they were, or to get rid of as many business cards as possible in an hour. I struggled to work out how to carve out a space for myself as someone who hated public speaking.
Cut to twenty years later, and here I am, running my own networking business with almost 40 groups (and counting!), so I think I’m pretty well qualified to give advice on networking for introverts! If you, like me, think sitting and talking about yourself and what you do for an hour and a half sounds like hell, here are 5 tips to get out of your shell and make business networking work for you.
1) Plan ahead
At our ScreenPop meetings, each business gets 60 seconds to introduce themselves at the start of the meeting, and a brief moment at the end of the meeting to give referrals, recommendations or comments. In total, you only really need to spend 2 minutes speaking in front of people!
With that in mind, I recommend planning any speaking you need to do a couple of days in advance. There’s nothing wrong with writing things down, so give yourself a few bullet points, or even write out your whole speech ahead of time. Practise reading it out or speaking it through a few times, remembering to breathe and speak slower than you think you need to. Being prepared will be a big weight off your shoulders.
2) Go in with clear goals in mind
Sometimes, keeping in mind what you want to gain from a networking meeting is a great way to motivate yourself to show up and stick to your plan. We all feel uncomfortable talking about ourselves at times, but knowing why you’re doing it will help you to push through.
Some of our ScreenPop members like to set clear goals for each meeting they attend. They could be really simple things, like ‘I’ll speak to two new people’, or ‘I’ll organise one 1:1 for the month’. Knowing what you want is a great way to focus your energy and keep things on track.
3) Remember, most people feel nervous at first!
The truth is, most people go into their first networking meeting feeling a little bit nervous about what they’re walking into, and I think it helps to keep in mind that other people are usually more focused on themselves than they are on you!
4) Focus on listening, rather than speaking
Some of the best networkers I know are much better at listening than they are at speaking. Authentic connections are built on a desire to understand the other person, not just to get your message across. Ask meaningful questions to understand what other business owners’ needs are and remember the details they share with you about themselves and their work. Paradoxically, business networking works best when it’s personal.
Follow up afterwards with a quick email or a LinkedIn request to make sure you stay connected.
5) Carefully consider what networking styles will work best for you
Figure out what aspects of networking are making you nervous and then find a networking style that alleviates some of those fears. For example, if you’re worried about having to go up and introduce yourself to people at an informal coffee morning, consider choosing a more structured approach, where the introductions are made for you and you don’t have to do the whole ‘inserting yourself into a group’ thing. If you’re worried about the formality of a meeting, choose something more relaxed, where you won’t have to wear a suit.
Our ScreenPop Meets groups combine informality with structure in a clique-free environment that welcomes all business types. If you’re an introvert looking to try networking for the first time in Nottinghamshire, Lincolnshire, Leicestershire, Derbyshire, Yorkshire, Cheshire or Rutland, come and visit!
