5 Things You Must Bring to Your Next Networking Event

You can often find some of the best job opportunities through networking and attending networking events. However, what happens if the idea of going into a room full of strangers stirs up your nerves and has you feeling anxious and intimidated?

While it’s okay to be nervous, it’s not okay to let those nerves show and risk your chances with the people who can potentially hire you. Thus, you need to show up to that event fully prepared and ready for battle!

The best way to do so is by making sure you bring these five items to your next networking event!

1.     Your elevator pitch.

Alright, you caught me. You can't exactly 'bring' an elevator pitch to a networking event. But, it's important that you prepare one and have it in your back pocket for the moment when it comes in handy. An elevator pitch is a 20-second summary of who you are and the unique value you bring. You don't have to memorize a pitch word for word, but it's always a good idea to be clear on who you are, what you are looking for, and how you can add value. Here are some tips on how to come up with an impressive introduction.

Master your glowing introduction to differentiate

2.     Business cards and a pen. 

Your business cards are always important tools to bring, but what many people often forget is a pen. To make the most of your networking experience, a great tip for when you get a person's business card is to quickly write down a bit about them and the conversation you two had on the back. This will help you craft the perfect follow-up email the next day.

3.     A networking buddy.

They say two heads are better than one, and with networking, bringing a friend with you makes it more fun than going in alone! Having a networking buddy gives you the assurance of having at least one person you can talk to comfortably and fall back on if you need backup. The assurance of having a supportive friend and networking buddy can also help you feel less nervous.

4.     Enthusiasm and curiosity.

A couple of things you also can’t literally ‘bring’ but are equally as important to have when attending a networking event. For these types of events, the last thing you want to do is be passive and wait for people to engage with you instead of the other way around – if you do that, you’ll easily be ignored! People always remember the enthusiastic and genuinely curious, as building up these two qualities helps exude a livelier aura, thus also enabling you to connect more deeply.

5.     Good questions.

To couple with the curiosity you’ll be bringing to the event, have a set of engaging questions prepared to have meaningful conversations. That way you won’t be fumbling to keep the conversation going and you’ll also prevent any awkward silent moments. While your questions have to be professional (since you are, after all, trying to look for a job), it’ll also be good to mix in some casual questions so you don’t appear too stiff. Here are 10 killer networking questions to spark a meaningful conversation.

Once you’re all set with these five items, you can be as ready as you can get for your networking event!

If you want to learn more on how to master networking, I invite you to join my free webinar on Sep 11 at 4pm EST:

How to Network Effectively and Get Hired Easily

Some of the topics I’ll be covering are how to overcome the fear of networking, mastering your glowing introduction, leveraging your LinkedIn for networking, and more!

If you want in on this FREE webinar, you can sign up here!

Do you have an awesome networking story you'd like to share? I'd love to hear it! Let me know in the comments section!

Is this your first time reading one of my articles? Awesome! I hope you enjoyed it! If we’re not connected on LinkedIn yet, send me an invite. I'm a Career Coach and Motivational Speaker who founded MyMarketability to help multi-passionate career changers and driven jobseekers find meaningful work and differentiate as high potential talent. I speak about career planning, job search, personal branding, networking, resumes, interviews and LinkedIn. I’m passionate about helping people thrive.Want to elevate your career? I invite you to visit www.mymarketability.com and subscribe to my list to receive exclusive career and job search advice that I only share in email.