If I had a dime for every person who said ‘….there were just too many people in the room, it was impossible to network’, I’d be a wealthy man! Isn’t networking all about meeting lots of people? Yes, I accept that an exceptionally busy room – sports dinners, Chambers of Commerce events etc – can be challenging, especially if you don’t know anyone. But sometimes you just have to take a leap of faith and introduce yourself to a stranger.
I did just that at a recent event. The bar was heaving and everyone was shoulder to shoulder, getting a drink was the ultimate challenge! Some people need a glass as a prop and without one they are naked. Personally I took advantage of this very busy room. A technique I use is to move across the floor, almost as if I am heading over to meet someone at the other side. In this instance the reality was I didn’t know a soul but the process enabled me to scour the room for either people i knew, or people who appeared to be isolated; they are the ones usually feeling awkward. I spied one guy by himself and made the opening comment ‘golly, it’s crowded in here’. That’s all you need, a one liner introduction, a gesture of goodwill that says ‘I’m here to save you’. He smiled, made a comment back and we were talking. The secret is to follow up with a second comment quickly otherwise that opener can easily become a dying ember…..your silence is too long and then don’t know how to move to the next line of conversation so you end up walking away. It transpired that the chap was chairman of a company and was was waiting for his bank manager, who hadn’t turned up, and didn’t know a soul. Our conversation was taking place literally minutes before we were called to table with the customary ‘lunch is served’. However, it was long enough for us to swap business cards and for me to indicate that I would give him a ring in a week after I had returned from holiday. We bade farewell and, a few days later, I followed up with a call. Meetings ensued and my company was awarded a digital marketing contract. That lunch / networking event paid for itself 1000 times over. So don’t ever tell me that an event or a room is too ‘big’ to work…….it’s not the room, it’s YOU that’s the problem! Learn to adapt.