Kia ora,

Happy Thursday, and happy 4th issue to Business-Minded!

Today’s read is heavily inspired by networking tips from Rochelle Moffitt Rochelle kindly invited me to speak at her Courageous Networking event last night after I put up my hand at her previous event saying I wanted to do more public speaking! So generous.

Back yourself, and make the first move.

Estimated Read time: 4 minutes 57 seconds

The Deep Dive: Making the First move

Networking gets a bad rap.

We hear the word and our mind instantly goes to elevator pitches, listening to vocalised renditions of someone’s CV, and mild feelings of inadequacy. 

Earlier this year, I organised an event on Employee Share Schemes on behalf of the corporate I’m currently fractioning at. 

All the attendees were founders or senior leaders of primarily tech startups, and I felt really out of place.

I had this weird sense of shame around being an ‘employee’ in the context of this event, and that my business wasn’t a cool successful tech startup. So naturally I didn’t introduce myself to anyone all night.

When I was spiralling in bed that night, it dawned on me that no attendee knew about my background — and they probably would have been really interested in my story.

I then realised how many times I had left networking events early because I felt I had nobody to talk to.

It was only recently when I attended Rochelle’s first “How to” networking event that I learned something groundbreaking:

“Introduce yourself first.”

For some people, this is eye-rollingly obvious.

But not for me.

I had this belief that I needed to wait for an invitation into the conversation, and that by barging in, I was being super rude.

But after that networking masterclass, I realised that if had been labouring under the “speak only when spoken to” belief, then other people probably were as well. 

I also realised how impressed and flattered I felt when other people had “made the first move” by reaching out to me at events or online.

The past couple of months, I’ve been practicing “making the first move” in a few different contexts:

• Walking up to a group and introducing myself at networking events - it’s totally okay to just say something that addresses the elephant in the room like “Hello I’m just inviting myself into this conversation - I’m Elise. What were you talking about before I interrupted?”

• Saying hi first to people around the office to people I’ve never spoken to before

• Proactively reaching out to people I’ve met in person on LinkedIn shortly after meeting them to say how much I enjoyed getting to know them, and teeing up a coffee catchup.

So far, it’s going well. I’m having more conversations (and a lot more coffee catchups) than ever before.

So here’s a wrap of how to get better at networking:

1. Say hello first (see above)

2. Don’t lead in with “what do you do?” — Instead lead in with something more engaging such as “what are you most excited about at the moment?”, “what are you most looking forward to at this event?”, or if you’re feeling funky, “what’s your favourite pasta shape?”

3. Ask “what are you trying to achieve at the moment?” - you might have the ability to connect the person with someone who can help them achieve their goal.

4. Connect: ask for their business card or connect on LinkedIn. If you send a personalised connection request, it’ll be easier to keep track of who you add from the event.

5. Exit: I’m a SHOCKER for getting stuck in one conversation all night because I’m too polite to leave, but the point of networking is to chat to a lot of different people. To politely exit, say “it’s been lovely meeting you, I’m here to meet lots of new people so I’m going to continue on, but I’d love to catch up over coffee sometime. I’ll be in touch.”

6. Follow up: message the people you met either immediately post-event or the following day on LinkedIn and invite them for a coffee. Failing that, even a message saying how lovely it was to meet them and how much you appreciated the conversation goes a long way. The magic really happens in the follow up and so many people don’t reach out — so this is where you really stand out.

Action of the Week:

How can you make the first move this week?

Whether it’s messaging someone on LinkedIn, striking up a conversation in person with someone you’ve never spoken to before, or attending a networking event, give it a go!

If you’re Auckland-based, here are a few events on my radar where you can practice making the first move:

• Movac Marketing Jam

• David Goggins No Excuses

• Sip & Share with the Country Director of Google NZ

• Auckland Executive Women’s Club Monthly Meetup

• AI in Action: Practical, Legal and Ethical Considerations for NZ Businesses

Inspo & Recommendations:

LinkedIn post:  “ChatGPT isn’t useless, you’re just using it for the wrong thing.” by Sarah Mitchell

Podcast ep: Trust, Leadership and Taking a Break from Technology by How I Work (I relisten to this episode at least once a year - SO good)

Learning: LinkedIn Learning. In many countries, you can get free access if you have a library card with your local library, and failing that, many employers will supply it. I actually learnt SEO on LinkedIn Learning in lockdown.

Tech: Use Perplexity to summarise topical news stories. It gives you the overview of a certain issue (i.e. the US election) without you needing to scroll various news sites, and supplies sources. Learn more here.

Money: Separate your accounts. I have accounts for spending (usually sits at $0), bills, travel, savings, splash cash, gym, Christmas presents, etc. I transfer money to my card every time I need to make a purchase. You can listen a little more about how I manage my money on this podcast.

Love from your business-minded friend,

Elise