When you are networking, who are you promoting?

I always felt.

It was brilliant to promote myself at networking events.?

Talk-talk-sell-sell.

The director of our Liverpool, NY chamber, Lucretia Hudzinski, and Life/leadership coach, Barb Stone, shared with me a different strategy.?

I said, ok, I will give this a try.

And it works.

?I witnessed it in action today at the Liverpool Chambers speed networking event.

1. Promote others-not yourself.

Promoting others and not you is a humble way of putting others first and ensuring your advice is valuable to the person you’re speaking with. Soon, they will be asking questions about you, they will be engaged, and you both will be building rapport.

2. Ask Questions.

Ask lots of questions and direct the conversation toward what they are involved in and what they are excited about. I watched individuals build genuine and human conversation, making the other person feel special. The excitement, engagement, and energy in the room were wide open.

3. Be polite and kind.

Everyone I saw was shaking hands, smiling, trading digital or paper business cards, and thanking the other person for their five minutes to get to know each other. In the end, many hung around setting up days and times to visit again. And everyone was smiling. I score that, which is a win for everyone there.

Networking is building steps to gently move the other person to know, like, and trust you.?

Believe in yourself.