Starting Conversations at Networking Events

Ovient Social Night in Mountain View

When you attend a lecture, conference, or trade show, do you feel comfortable starting conversations with the strangers around you? It’s not an easy thing to do, even for native speakers. (See Michael Arrington’s TechCrunch post about how to interact at events.) Talking to people is an important business skill because meeting new people and making connections helps grow your personal network, which eventually gives you more opportunities to grow your business.

The four examples I share below are four REAL conversation openers from the last networking event I attended. I started conversations using the examples shown in #1 & #4, and other people used #2 & #3 to start talking to me. The conversations weren’t long, but they were meaningful, and we exchanged business cards at the end with the hopes of a continued relationship.

1) ASK TO SHARE A TABLE

Walk up to someone sitting at a table and ask if you can sit next to her. This works every time–unless the seat is being saved, but if that’s the case, just find another table.

2) ASK IF IT’S HIS FIRST TIME AT THIS EVENT

When you’re standing near someone and he isn’t talking to anyone, ask him if he’s ever been to this kind of event, if he’s ever heard this speaker, or if he’s ever been to this event space.

3) ASK IF SHE IS A MEMBER OF THE ORGANIZATION

If you find out that you are both members of the organization, you will have found something that you have in common. You can talk about past events. If the person you are talking to is a member and you are not, you can ask about the benefits of being a member.

4) COMMENT ON THE FOOD OR DRINKS

Walk up to someone near the food or drink line and make a comment. When I was recently at an evening event, and I said to the person standing in line, “I don’t think I should drink coffee at 9 PM.” He replied, “It’s good coffee. You should try the decaf.” This small talk led us into an interesting conversation about books and authors.

These conversations I had were not business exchanges, but networking isn’t always about making a sale. Networking is about meeting people, being helpful and making connections. Don’t be shy, and just remember that everyone is just as scared as you to start up a new conversation!