Meeting New People

When was the last time you walked up to a total stranger, engaged in a conversation with the view of walking away with something you wanted from him?

Tonight in a training environment, I did just that. It wasn't easy. I am attending a two day course aimed at imparting networking skills. To put our new learnt skills to practice, we 'hosted' a business seminar for some 'customers'. Of course, these 'customers' were really just managers in disguise. My objective was to go up to at least three of them, engage in small talk and move progressively to some serious business conversation ultimately walking away with their business card and agreement to tee up a meeting later on during the week.

Oh man... it's the most difficult thing to do... this walking up to a complete stranger business. Sometimes I encountered periods of silence where my mind went absolutely blank for want of new questions to ask. One time a customer was talking about exporting his goods while I talked about importing. Another time the 'customer' had to throw me clues about what else to talk about.

Thinking back, I've been doing this my whole life. Sure, not in a polished way and not always for the same objective. Nevertheless, we've all done this. Starting from first day at kindergarten - striking up conversations with complete strangers for friendship, at school, at uni, at work. Making new friends, asking for information, etc. But boy, it doesn't get any easier.

I succeeded in reaching my objective, and learnt a couple of things during the exercise.
1. The person talking to me is probably as nervous as I am meeting them for the first time. So, relax...
2. Wearing clothes that have two pockets is easier - you can use one pocket for storing cards received, the other for your own business cards.
3. Engaging in a networking conversation is never just a 'go with the flow' exercise. It involves some planning, strategy and practice.

I never anticipated tonight to be a fun night, but it was!