When the Mouse tries to Network

My hands are clammy, my knees are knocking, my heart is racing, and I'm having trouble breathing normally. No, I'm not ill. I'm getting ready to stand up in front of a bunch of local business people and explain what I do for a living and why they should use my services.

"But you stand up and speak in public all the time," I hear some of you saying. Yeh, I do... and sometimes in front of hundreds of people. But that is a well scripted and rehearsed speech about a specific topic. This networking gig is a whole different ball game.

Suddenly I feel like I'm the new kid at school who doesn't know anyone and isn't quite sure of the rules within the playground. And each meeting I have to stand up and make myself sound really interesting in just 2 minutes, to a bunch of local business owners while they eat their eggs with hollandaise sauce and sip on their skinny lattes.

So this morning I practised in the car on the way to my third networking event. I have some information I'd recently picked up going around in my head. Don't make it all about you, don't just describe what you do, make what you do sound different to everyone else in your trade, solve the problem of the people you're talking to even though you don't know what their problem is. Well, I totally know what their problem is, it's the same as mine ... "I'm going to be speaking next, what the hell am I going to say?" Yep, that's what they are thinking.

But like everything I do, I over think right up to the point of being handed the microphone and end up just winging it. I did get some little laughs this morning so it couldn't have been that bad.

Feeling ever so slightly more confident, I brace myself for the next part of networking. This is the actual mingling and networking bit. So there's no time to over think the situation, but I've never been much of a mingler. In fact I'm a hang on to the wall and hope no-one makes eye contact kind of person usually. I know that people who see me out and about are now saying, "no way, you're out there and chatty and friendly." I'm sorry people... it's all an act. Inside that bold and brash exterior is a little girl who is totally terrified she is going to say the wrong thing, call someone by the wrong name, make an inappropriate joke, or laugh with a mouthful of coffee and spray the whole room.

So I dive in like you would a swimming pool on a cold day. I hover, I say hi, I smile and ask what they do. I alternate between the wolf packs and the terrified rabbits sitting on the perimeter, trying to convince myself that everyone in the room is feeling exactly the same way. Just some are better actors.

I left this morning with some great connections, a couple of referrals, and someone who is going to quote on some building repairs for me. I guess this networking thing is working. Maybe I should have tried out for drama class at school because it looks like I may have missed my calling.

So if I see you at the networking meeting, don't be afraid to come and say hi... because deep down, I'm just as terrified as you.

See you there
AndyK