Everything from body language, to eye contact, to being respectful and having a firm handshake can lead to a good first impression and help to facilitate relationship building no matter the event. Courtesy of Oana Borcoman

As the corporate and incentive meeting and event industry becomes ever more competitive, the winners will be those who go beyond traditional meeting and event design to deliver memorable, engaging networking experiences for attendees. In addition, meeting planners themselves need to embrace the discipline of effective networking and develop the required skills needed to expand their professional connections.

From improving interpersonal communication skills to understanding the key non-verbal skills required for networking, there are several “must-have” skills that will make any networking efforts successful.

1. Be An Active Listener

Nothing is worse than the “networker” at a corporate event who greets you with a business card upon a handshake and delivers their elevator pitch. “Do not be that person,” says Oana Borcoman, founder & CEO of Evoke, An Experience Agency. The best way to meet people is to practice active listening, where you ask questions and engage with the person you are speaking with in a way that builds familiarity to them and engage in a conversation that is relevant to them.

“This is key in making people feel heard and in creating meaningful, mutually beneficial conversations,” says Borcoman.

As the event planner for “Success Becomes Me,” the only women’s wealth conference in the Midwest, and founder of Infinite HERizons, Bri Seeley also previously ran an un-networking company in Los Angeles that hosted four to five events a month for up to 250 women. The premise of the company was that no one asked, “What do you do?” Instead, they built actual relationships, rather than transactional ones.

“When it comes to active listening, don’t simply listen to [the other person], respond. In order to build an authentic relationship, you need to listen to engage,” Seeley says.

2. Communication Skills

Communication skills range from knowing your tone and approach to responding appropriately. As Borcoman explains, active listening is also a key element of communication. Overall, having communication skills is imperative to networking.

“Be curious,” Seeley adds. “Spend more time learning about who you’re talking to than you do talking about yourself.” You also need to be able to “read” the person – namely, recognize if you are doing most of the talking, when to let the other person share their thoughts and insights, and take the time to create a back-and-forth communication dynamic with each person with whom you engage.

3. Nonverbal Communication Skills

How you look, your body language and your approach say more than words ever could. Our body language can show lack of confidence or come off as rude. What we wear makes everyone’s initial first impression too, so are you professional or dressed inappropriately for the event? Do you appear bored or engaged while chatting with someone?

“While a poker face isn’t always inviting, too much smiling during ‘uncalled for’ moments can be perceived as very rude,” Borcoman says. There are many ways to practice nonverbal communication, but some basics include standing up tall, appearing confident, greeting people with a smile and looking them in the eye when talking.

“Keep your focus on the person you’re speaking with,” Seeley says. Being distracted or looking for the next best thing in the room will deter people from wanting to be in connection with you, thus deterring them from doing business with you or continuing the business relationship after the event has concluded.

4. Interpersonal Skills

Someone with good interpersonal skills is just “great with people.” They have empathy, practice patience with people, keep their word/do what they say, are reliable and trustworthy, and make everyone feel like they are their friend.

As Borcoman points out, the best way to work on your interpersonal skills is to “put yourself in their shoes” and “treat people like you want to be treated.” She says, “Using those two little simple golden rules goes a long way.”

As a communications consultant, Brandi Sims, the founder & CEO of Brandinc PR, has been orchestrating corporate meetings and events for 15 years. She also believes one of the top skills for networking is interpersonal communication skills. Recently, she hosted a Networking Masterclass through Forbes BLK and the biggest challenge shared from participants was the difficulty with finding the right things to say during casual conversations.

“The easiest way to combat this includes finding small details about the individual that can kickstart a conversation, such as noticing a lapel pin of an organization or their request for a drink,” Sims says. “Personally, I like to add a bit of humor as well to open up conversations. There is nothing like bonding over common challenges like having a rough work week or high gas prices and making a joke of it.”

5. Humor

When it comes to networking, humor is a tricky skill to exhibit because everyone’s sense of humor is different. The best advice here is to know your audience. Sarcasm and dry humor, while a personal favorite of Borcoman’s, just doesn’t fly with everyone. Jokes in poor taste or with controversial subjects that offend others may be the quickest way to lose respect from others.

“Be careful with humor, but if done skillfully, it is a wonderful ice breaker,” Borcoman says.

6. Respect

Treating people with respect comes in many forms and is not universal. It is important to know what is expected of you in different scenarios and cultures.

“Are attendees networking with corporate executives or entry level people? Are attendees in sales networking with decision makers/buyers or other salespeople? Are they talking to people from other cultures who have a different expectation of respect in business than we may have in America?” Borcoman says. All of these elements come into play when thinking of respect, but there are some universal rules that apply.

Shake someone’s hand firmly (in American culture), look people in the eyes, do not interrupt them while speaking, respond to instructions with your name and with pleasantries (nice to meet you), etc. When unsure, Borcoman says to address someone elderly or at a higher organizational title than you with “Sir” or “Ma’am” when unsure. You can never be too respectful to someone. You would rather be told to “just call me by my first name” rather than be considered rude. It’s like dress code – it’s better to be overdressed than underdressed and caught in an uncomfortable situation.

Lastly, don’t treat people in a transactional manner. Seeley stresses the importance of respecting them enough to see them and engage with them as a person, not a prospect.

 7. Confidence

Nothing attracts people to people more than confidence. Confidence is the number one attractive trait in business, dating, friendships or any kind of relationships. Walking into a room with a lack of confidence is not only a disservice to yourself, but it also may lead to an inaccurate first impression to your skill level and abilities, causing someone to overlook you rather than walk up to you.

Have the confidence to schedule a follow up time to connect while you’re in person. Emails get lost. Text messages get overlooked.

“If you’re resonating with a person you’ve met, put a virtual coffee in your calendar in the moment,” Seeley suggests.

8. Friendliness

Be friendly and approachable, but also respectful. Approach someone whose stature is higher than yours in their field with utmost respect before casual friendliness. On the flip side, anyone who is your junior or equal (in workplace/organizational structure) should be treated with nothing but a friendly and approachable attitude.

“Be open to meeting everyone at the event,” Seeley says. You never know who this person knows and you never know what a new connection could create for you (or for them).

9. Social skills

Social skills are underutilized skills that should be included in effective networking. As Sims points out, while we rely heavily on technologies for our day-to-day communication, it can be a hindrance when we’re relying on it as our sole source of communication and no longer exercising our in-person social skills.

“Good networking involves a strong awareness and use of social skills which tap directly into both verbal and nonverbal communication,” Sims says. “Each of us should make it a priority to engage with people beyond the computer monitor or cellphone to exercise this skill.”

How To Create A Successful Networking Environment

In addition to honing the top skills needed for networking at events, meeting planners shared additional tips that go a long way in networking activities.

One key piece of advice is to create conversational pieces throughout the event that can act as ice breakers. These can be experiential moments, photo moments or just something engaging.

“Adults don’t want awkward games or forced conversation starters as the ice breakers, but saying ‘wow that’s very cool’ can be the perfect start to a familiar conversation with others,” Borcoman says.

Another oldie but goodie is the simplest of all – provide drinks and snacks. People feel more comfortable with something in hand or the distraction of a delicious bite. It gives people something to ‘do’ while they muster up the confidence to speak to others.

As someone who has planned dozens of in-person and virtual events, Sims’ best advice for the meeting planner is to remember to engage with the audience too. As she explains, networking isn’t just limited to people you service, but it is something you must actively engage in to reach people at their level.

“There are so many instances where an event attendee became a client, colleague or resource from casual conversations during these networking events,” Sims says.

One of the networking tactics Sims has used is offering prompt cards to encourage engagement and interaction of attendees. Bingo cards are one of the easiest ways to get people engaging and interacting without feeling pressured or unsure of what to say to others. The first time Sims did this was during a Women’s Summit she planned where the primary audience was entrepreneurs, business owners and professionals ranging from banking to nonprofits.

“The prompts were simple and asked guests to perform tasks that required a signature to complete,” Sims says. “For example, one prompt asked if someone was a business owner for at least five years and had that attendee sign to confirm. At the end of the event, cards submitted would be entered to win a prize. This was a simple but effective way to get guests networking with each other.”

Seeley also suggests planners send out networking tips and a list of ice breaker questions that attendees can use at the event. It will help people think past the generic question of “What do you do?” and support them in building long-term relationships with client or referral partners.

Also, be sure to schedule in space for people to connect. If your agenda is packed with back-to-back speakers or presenters, it prevents attendees from forming genuine relationships and having deeper conversations that lead to long-term connections.

“Create a culture of connection,” Seeley says. “Networking isn’t about amassing business cards, but rather building relationships. Connection over transactions is the culture that will keep attendees coming back to your events again and again.”

Networking Dos and Don’ts

When incorporating networking opportunities within a corporate event environment, it is vital that event planners avoid some common mistakes. One of the most common is thinking that people just want to network and give them nothing engaging in the event itself.

“A great event will bring attendee’s energy up and confidence up, and conversation will happen naturally with that,” Borcoman says. “Any great event needs to have basics … food, drinks, music/background music, some form of entertainment or engaging activity and be visually welcoming. The same applies for networking events. Do not forgo ‘fun event elements’ just because it is a business-focused event. People always love to be surprised.”

The biggest common mistake Sims sees meeting planners make around networking is the assumption that people will simply engage because they are in a common, shared space together. That’s not always the case, so it’s good to have activities within the event that prompt engagement.

“In the past, I’ve had events use prompt cards to encourage people to interact with others. Prompts help those that are unsure of what to say or how to start conversations with easy prompts to kickstart a discussion,” Sims says.

Remember, as event planners, your job is to deliver a welcoming and memorable experience that encourages people to be themselves and be motivated and confident. You cannot force people into networking situations, so create an environment where that will happen organically and people want to stay rather than leave as fast as possible.

“Create comfortable seating areas or areas that make it easy for dynamic conversations to be joined,” Borcoman says. “Give people welcomed distractions or surprises that they can use as an excuse to move around the room and not be stuck. Overall, focus on the event experience and attendees will take care of the networking part for themselves.” C&IT