My good friend, Al Martella, Executive Coach to the Stars who coached and mentored thousands of financial advisors at a major financial services firm is back with another nugget this week.
In Al’s words:
“I can be a great procrastinator when I’ve got a task to complete that I’m not crazy about. At one time, networking was on that list. Here are some techniques I used to overcome my fear:
- MIRROR, MIRROR – Before every event, I would practice my networking technique before a mirror. I would imagine both friendly and challenging people and practiced how I might handle a conversation. I would especially watch my facial expressions and body language. The time before the mirror made me more confident. It also helped me understand that for every difficult conversation, I was closer to a friendly conversation.
- RAISE YOUR ENERGY LEVEL – On my way to an event, I would listen to a playlist of my favorite tunes. This helped to get my adrenaline flowing and helped me to go into the event with more energy.
- MAKE IT A GAME – Before an event, I would put twenty coins in my right hand pocket. My goal – have a minimum of twenty conversations at the event. With every conversation I had, I moved one of the coins to my left hand pocket. This technique kept me on task. After a few events, I grew less dependent on the coins and could keep track mentally of my conversations. It sounds crazy but it worked for me!
As Andrea would say “Set a positive intention daily to build and nurture your network.”
What do you think? Andrea and I would love to hear from you and your thoughts and suggestions.
And for anyone who shares their story, ideas or suggestions via my contact form, I will send you the “Networking Checklist” to prepare for any event.