Networking Success

This is an excerpt from the soon-to-be-published book Face-to-Face Networking Skills in a Social Media World
It’s Who Listens

Is a speaker presentation event worth your time? Consider this: Your personal interest in the speaker or the topic is not as important as the attendees. Consider the audience…who are they? Bankers? New Home Buyers? HR Executives? They are the ones you will be rubbing elbows with. The speaker or the topic may be dull, but the audience may be worth their weight in gold for you. If the topic will pull in an audience of professionals you need to meet, GO! (Bonus Tip: If the speakers is not your competition, yet they pull in your target market, shouldn’t you get to know them? Think PowerPartners!)

When I attended a conference in Long Beach, CA last year, I had to choose between several “breakout” speakers (Don’t you hate that? You want to hear them all!) I narrowed my choices down to 1) an audience of independent entrepreneurs such as myself (the topic was very relevant to me) or 2) an audience of executive women. I used this strategy to determine which session to attend, (The executive women). It worked well for me because I made significant connection that day. When I explained my selection process to a table mate at lunch, it was like an “Ah-HA” moment for her. “Very clever” she said.

A Speaker Determines The Audience