Career Prep 2009 Summer Blog

Many fellows asked about ways to approach/break into conversations, specifically at networking events.

The art of conversation takes practice, and is not as hard as you might think. It will take some knowledge, practice, and patience, and you can learn to relax and enjoy a great conversation. Forget yourself. Dale Carnegie once said, "It's much easier to become interested in others than it is to convince them to be interested in you." If you are too busy thinking about yourself, what you look like, or what the other person might be thinking, you will never be able to relax. Introduce yourself, shake hands, then forget yourself and focus on them instead. Jamar Gould of Georgetown University suggests: Look for "hooks." Any similarity you can find between you and someone you are networking with can be key to a great conversation. Try to find something you can each relate to and the conversation will flow very naturally. This can be almost anything: sports, hobbies, hometown, etc. Wendy Terwelp, CPBS, CCMC, JCTC wrote in Networking 101 - "You can make more friends in two months by becoming interested in other people than you can in two years trying to get people interested in you." —Dale Carnegie

Great advice Carnegie – and a great start for networking. One of the best ways to begin a conversation — and become interested in others — is by asking open-ended questions. What’s an open-ended question? One that cannot be answered by either “yes,” “no” or another one-word response.