WSJ: Some people enter a room of strangers and glide along from one lively conversation to another, uncovering golden new business contacts.
How do they do it?
These people know how to read a room—a capacity that can be partly inborn, but also learned. From the barrage of sights, sounds and behavioral details, they extract clues about which people have the most to offer and which to avoid.
8 comments:
Well, this is disappointing, I was actually looking forward to read this article and get tips and things to do while networking. Its been a few years since I really went to networking events and while, I would have liked to see the rest of the article. I find the Wall Street Journal writes good articles and generally are quite informative and well written. Also, I find that businessmen, when they are good at their jobs, may be some of the best networkers i’ve met. Most of my friends working the corporate world, and I have spent a lot of time going to events with them and watching them work a room. My best friend may be able to get a job from a brick wall, if he wanted to, I strive to become more like him when in networking situations. To bad i didn’t want to pay to read this article, maybe try and post articles that can be read for free.
Networking is a very challenging game to play. When you are playing this game you are always scared that you are going to say the wrong thing or come off too aggressive or what not. It is also hard sometimes to get out of your shell and talk about yourself. At a party networking can be even harder. This is because a party is a social event not a professional event. You want to be casual but not a sloppy mess. What I have found to be really successful when I have networked at a party has been having the conversation start out with a friend that can help make the connection. They will eventually leave to go get another drink or something like that leaving you alone to talk about yourself. This helps calm your initial nerves and still make a great first impression. Networking is how the world works, so it is a really good skill to have.
This article wasn't really helpful in the way I thought it would be. I've found this skill very useful during many events and mixers where I'm surrounded by the people i want to work for someday.The people in the room often feel at ease because naturally this is not their first party/ mixer. I think the skills needed are as follows. You need to listen to everything, be all over the space, read every name tag before you approach, keep happy and relaxed because you are happy to be there, and know that being a awesome human being is more important than reeling in a new job or project. I've been told that if you follow that last one, the jobs and projects will fall at your feet because everyone will know you and you'll never have to look for work. You're in the ring. Another good tip is to find people who you know and have them introduce you, its a great way to come into a group with a little reputation/standing. if its not a formal party its just great to say hi to someone and get to know them on a friend level before you talk business. all of these tips should have been addressed in the article but I don't think they were all properly addressed.
As someone who generally feels pretty awkward in most social situations, the idea of trying to network at a party is a complete nightmare. This is pretty unfortunate, given that my chosen profession, theatre, is an industry that, like many, revolves around who knows who and who likes who. I really would have liked to have gotten some tips from such a reputable source as the Wall Street Journal, but I found the article sorely lacking. The problem with networking is that you can give advice, such as find someone you already know, stay happy and relaxed, and remember people's names, but these are hard tips to integrate when a person struggles just make conversation. You can receive all the tips in the world, but they don't mean anything if you cannot actually apply them. The best way to help someone network would be to guide them to feel more easy and natural in social situations first.
I have always loved getting to know new people. I think finding out where people are from, and what makes them who they are is incredibly interesting, and I've always considered myself to be pretty good at talking to people, because I am genuinely interested. However, regardless of all that it is hard to get to know people, and to make yourself memorable at a big party. At big functions where you meet a lot of people, you're supposed to make yourself stand out, make sure self memorable, so when people look back on the night they say "oh yeah, I talked to Sarah who just got back from Fiji where she swam with the dolphins" (I have not been to Fiji, or swam with dolphins, but stay tuned for updates). The problem is that it is really easy to say, all of these things and extremely hard to execute them. Talking to mass group of people is a skill, and it is one that must be practiced, a lot, before it can be mastered. I do read every article I see on Facebook about how to get better at talking to people, but lets not mistake that for really learning something about human interaction, you need people for that.
Well, it is kind of a bummer that I had to subscribe in order to read this article -- but never-the-less I am interested in talking about networking and how crucial it is in almost any field that you choose to work in. Two weekends ago my mom and her friend from college came to visit for parents’ weekend. He is a really good guy, and CEO at a major marketing firm, and is always trying to give advice to me and other college students. I don’t think I can remember a time when he hasn’t told me to make connections and have a strong network. “It’s all about who you know” is what he would tell us at the dinner table. The more I think about it, the more I find it to be true. It is crazy what people will do to make connections and establish a network base to help find jobs and be successful. Someone could be the best in his or her field and never get a job if the people that matter never see their work. Make the connections for the best chance of finding yourself where you want to be.
Sign up to read full article…. No. Well, this is a shame. I would love to see what the rest of the article says but also I’m not so interested in subscribing the site. Oh well, never mind. Although if you ask me I would say it should be more like a networking event? If that makes sense to more people here because I myself never been to any networking event here before. But I hosted many parties in the past and attended several of them while I was here especially this summer while I was in DC when we have to host special parties for opera donors. They had us trained but more focus on the artists is that how to behave, what should and what should not talked. Ow to handle drunk or creepy donors with still be able to get cash from them at the end. It was not that hard actually I impressed couple donors and got them leave their names at the reception for me
It's not about what you know, but who you know! This adage is so important in any field, and many consider the worth of their location of higher education to be in the connections they can make through that particular school. While I don't necessarily agree with this method, I do believe that self motivation is the only sure way to success. No matter what social situation you are in--party, classroom, mixer, conference--it is always you as the individual to make the initiative to form a new contact which is the only way to broaden the opportunities available to you. What is typically the problem for most people is gauging the appropriateness of discussing work over small talk, and the ways in which to bring up work related topics. Perhaps the only way to really do this successfully is to jump in headfirst, try it, and improve.
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