The Top 10 Tips for Reluctant Networkers

These tips are from "The Networking Survival Guide" by Diane Darling and were in the Boston Globe on April 1, 2004.

1. Give a firm handshake: Two pumps and let go.

2. Do not arrive hungry. It is difficult to juggle food with handshaking and business card exchange.

3. Come with five or six questions you've rehearsed out loud that will get the dialogue started.

4. Get there early.

It is much less intimidating to arrive first than to enter a crowded room where people are already engaged in conversation.

5. Videotape yourself in a mock interview to uncover your bad habits.

Ask your closest supporters for honest feedback.

6. Maximize your time in line by talking to the person in front of you or in back of you.

7. Be prepared: Take a network kit - a pen that you can lose, a Sharpie - to embolden your name on the name badge, breath mints and business cards.

8. Keep your drink in your left hand so your right hand won't feel clammy when you shake hands.

9. Keep your business cards in your right pocket and the ones you collect in your left.

10. Follow up: Keep the business cards you have collected and pursue your leads courteously and with respect.

The biggest mistake is not following up!

About the Submitter:

This piece was originally submitted by Alvah Parker, Business and Career Coach, who can be reached at asparker@asparker.com, or visited on the web.

Copyright 2000-2004 CoachVille, LLC. May be distributed if full attribution is given and copyright notice is included.