It is this sentence that starts the meeting and opens the discussion. It remains to capture it best to capture attention, make the conversation long and ultimately drive the elements that will hit the mark.
The question comes quickly, often even before his twin, “and your name is…”. At networking events, like private dinners, you often exist in your profession before you’re just yourself, at least in the first moments of the conversation. So much so that over time everyone has learned to summarize their profession in a few words. But to the question “what do you do?”, the answer formed by habit and the concern for brevity is not necessarily the most stimulating, either for oneself or for the other party.
Get off the beaten track
A factual presentation that is crude and repetitive doesn’t provide much leverage to further the discussion or create the appearance of complicity. That is why it is important to enlighten these coded conversations, to get out of the nail. “When the context allows, I say I’m a spy,” smiles Mathieu (1), an international relations consultant. In addition to entertaining the interlocutor and thus attracting his attention, this type of introduction encourages him to ask questions, that is, to actively participate in the discussion. In the same spirit, antithesis can be useful in creating confusion. “I have some shocking phrases that I use in the introduction, for intrigue, for example, ‘I create sugar without sugar,'” explains Raffaella Nolleo, co-founder of Yacon & Co. This start-up company, which develops and develops in France. Yacon, a South American plant that contains good sugar for the body, just completed its first fundraiser, in other words, its co-founder had a chance to bypass events. network connection these last months. “The response is unequivocal: they ask me: what do I mean, how is this possible?” Then I can continue and introduce myself,” continues the entrepreneur.
I’ve always found people who launch into long monologues incredibly annoying.
Raffaella Nollea, co-founder of Yacon & Co
Raising questions rather than providing answers
Whether you’re talking to a potential investor, partner, or client, the key is to let them ask questions so you don’t give them all the answers on a plate. The idea. Keep his attention. “That’s why I don’t go into details too quickly,” continues Rafaela Nolleo. And then, I’ve always found it incredibly annoying people who start long monologues, we pick up after a few minutes. Here we address one of the paradoxes of the network and its codes. If everyone knows that we often gather on the network “for” something – to raise funds, to find clients, to find work… then the whole point is that people forget about it at least at first and convey thoughtfully and thoughtfully. thought. expected approach for a spontaneous meeting.
“That’s why when people ask me what I do, I can also answer. “things that are much less interesting than you,” confides Mathieu, an international affairs consultant. Encouraging a person to tell me about their life and work seems to me to be the most effective way to build trust with them.” You still have to find the right tone to flatter the other person without throwing them off to the point of making them uncomfortable. “I say it with humor and immediately answer with a question, it works very well. Then, of course, you have to trust yourself.
Learn to “speak”
Now that the discussion has started, it would be a shame to dry it up by presenting your position too factually. It is better to rethink one’s profession and its role, formulate it in its own way, as a way to reveal oneself, outside of one’s title. “I describe myself as the captain of a team in a company trying to break codes. First, because it’s true, but also because the feedback is often friendly and very curious,” explains Asmaa Chakir Alaoui, co-founder and CEO of VelyVelo, a start-up that designs and rents electric bikes to professionals. Business winner. With the Attitude Madame Figaro 2021 award.
Dive into the creation of the Business with Attitude Prize in this video
Wait for the meeting
Clearly, “it’s not about saying what we do, but why we do it,” as coach Isabel Stemmer, co-author, explained to us. You get up and decide to grow your network (1). On a side note, we don’t present ourselves to everyone in the same way. Therefore, it is important that before the networking event, you prepare several versions of your speech to reflect the profession and profile of your interlocutor. Better. learning to say them, for example in front of friends or colleagues, allows you to master them and gain flexibility when the time comes. A precious ease to not get carried away by the interlocutor’s reactions and stay focused on the hard elements you want to bring up. “During the discussion, I quote numbers or key names,” emphasizes Raffaella Nolleo of Yacon & Co. People are interested in us because of our network and the concrete successes we can demonstrate. Generating or selling €250,000 in turnover in a hundred Biocoop stores in France, that helps.”
Others, depending on their profile and purpose, will cite their years of experience, the number of people they manage, or the names of some prestigious clients they are responsible for, for example. Always with the same guide. pack key information into light conversation to avoid the catalog effect, at a slow pace, at regular intervals. A way to leave room for the other person to ask questions… or to draw their business card.
(1) This name has been changed.
Source: Le Figaro
