Even though business networking and business leads are in fact "business" the process of networking is still something very personal and human. The core of networking is based on and composed of human interaction. A rather boring or skittish individual is going to find a lot fewer contacts at a given business networking function than someone with charisma and confidence. If you want to be a more interesting and engaging person it takes more than "tricks." You either have it or you don't, but if you don't you can get it. The first part of being interesting is learning how to listen. You have to understand what is being said and judge the climate of the conversation before you can interject. Another part is don't say too much that isn't an actual contribution to the conversation. Jokes are great but it gets really old when no one can get anything serious out past the interruptions and the cheese. There are other things you can do to polish your conversational skills to be more interesting .
If you strive to be "interesting" you need to be able to generate interest. You want to give people a reason to engage with you. You need people to connect before they can stay connected once the networking is completed. Business leads and referrals don't generally fall into your pockets right away. Usually any leads will come after because people remember you and what you are interested in and can do, also how well you resonated with them. One thing you really need to be interesting is to possess knowledge.
Improving Business Leads through Knowledge Acquisition
Being interesting is completely a matter of perception, if you know everything there is to know about physics you are probably going to bore the heck out of an ice cream distributor unless they like science as a hobby. You can improve the perception of being interesting by brushing up on your knowledge of interesting and pertinent subjects. You may not find a lot of it very interesting in and of itself but you need to keep in mind you will need conversational knowledge of topics that are interesting to other people as well as yourself. People are all different as a whole but a little research can show you some things that most people find interesting. Subjects that are slightly less common knowledge are a good pick, having some interesting stories about underwater cave exploration might be more memorable than fantasy football picks.
Improving Business Leads with an Interesting Entrepreneurial Spirit
It's arguable that the most interesting people usually have the most adventurous jobs. This makes others want to hang around to learn more. That's why shows like "Deadliest Catch" are big hits and "Elementary School Crossing Guard?", not so much. Of course not everyone can have a million dollar business that captures the medias interest. You can however start something unique, do something bold and inspiring, even work on a daring product line if you like.
Improving Business Leads - Be a Raconteur
A raconteur is someone that is highly skilled in the art of storytelling. It doesn't matter what age you are or from what walk of life you come, everyone loves a good story. The subjects may change and the language by degree of education but the main elements are the same. The elements that generally interest people are innovation, money, revenge, ego, failure, and "relationships"
Improving Business Leads with Better Social Style
If you are out and about networking and trying to build up some business contacts and business leads you need to remember a couple things. Interest is based primarily on perception, meaning how you are perceived by the contact and is greatly influenced by your "presence." If you don't really have the "presence" you think you need then you can fake it a bit with style till you get yourself straightened out. You can do this by working on your style. Communication style encompasses tone, speaking pace, ability to listen, mirroring conversation partners and overall presentation.
There's no rocket science or magic formula behind being an interesting person. For many people it comes natural and for others they will need to work at it and build up their "skill". Either way, if you present yourself properly you'll improve your engagement and business lead acquisition at any business networking event.
Author Resource:
Referral Vault provides Maryland Business Networking Maryland Business Networking solutions to help small business networking group members build sustainable business leads. Discover how you can improve your brand reach and visibility with targeted Maryland Business Leads .
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