Networking in English | Easy, Effective Conversation Strategies

When you hear the word networking.

I know you know exactly what that means.

Networking means meeting new people, starting conversations,

and even engaging in small talk.

If you're someone who's naturally shy and introverted, like I am,

that can sound like the nightmare scenario. Not only that,

but networking in English may be a challenge.

You're never sure of the right questions to ask or how to best follow the

conversation. Plus at the end of the day,

what you really want is meaningful,

engaging conversation.

So when there are opportunities for you to network in English,

you might turn them down, but here's the problem. You know,

that networking can lead to amazing opportunities.

It can lead to new career connections, job promotions,

positions at a new company, new clients,

and even lifelong friendships.

So as an international English speaker,

who struggles with networking in English,

how can you muster up the motivation needed to engage in those

opportunities and do it with confidence in English,

maybe even enjoy it. I'm Annemarie with Speak Confident English.

Everything I do here is designed to help you get the confidence you want for

your life and work in English in this Confident English lesson today,

I'm going to share with you six powerful and instantly effective tips to

help you network in English so that you can meet new people easily.

Even if you're an introvert or naturally shy.

[Inaudible].

Tip number one, prepare in advance.

Do you ever think that some people seem to love networking and they

seem to do it easily? It's like they don't even have to think about it.

They can just jump into a group of people and start conversations and make

connections without even thinking about it.

If you've ever had that thought you're right,

networking does come more easily to some than others.

Research indicates that introverts need more time to think and process

information.

We can be easily overwhelmed by noise crowds and

increased stimuli, which leads to anxiety.

And as our anxiety increases,

it makes it more difficult for us to think clearly or be in the moment.

As the author of the introvert advantage explains an introvert's

brain actually works harder to process events,

thoughts, feelings, and interactions.

There is literally a longer neuro pathway for information to

travel as a result.

It's no surprise that introverts often need or prefer to

have time to think before they speak or in responding to

questions.

And that's exactly why preparing in advance is effective when you're

getting ready to go to a networking event in English. Well,

the first thing you can do is consider what kind of event it is.

Is it a formalized professional networking event, or is it a dinner party?

What kinds of people might you be meeting at that event?

And then prepare the questions that you would like to ask in advance.

Have a list of three, four or five questions that, you know,

you can use with almost anyone you meet.

This is something I often do anytime I know I'll be meeting new people.

I always have a list of questions prepared to use.

Another way to prepare in advance is to plan to limit your time

there.

If networking is a challenge and it drains your energy don't

plan to spend hours at an event,

if you don't need to give yourself a limited amount of time that you

will be at the event and fully engaged during that time.

And then when you're ready, you can leave. When, you know,

in advance that you're only going to be there for a short time.

It can help you get and keep the motivation you need to be

present and start those conversations successfully.

Tip number two is change your mindset as someone who is interested

in personal growth,

I'm sure that you've already implemented this strategy in many other areas of

your life.

So you know how effective it can be rather than views small talk and networking

as a necessary evil,

you can shift your mindset just a bit and think of it as an opportunity

to engage in meaningful conversation or develop meaningful

relationships. On top of that, instead of going into an event,

thinking this is going to take forever and I'm going to be so tired when I'm

finished again, you can shift that mindset just a bit to:

I can be positive and engaging for one hour at this event.

And instead of thinking, I never know what to say or ask.

You can shift your mindset to,

I only need two or three questions to get others talking.

And that is the perfect opportunity for me to introduce tip number three,

use your secret weapon as an introvert and ask questions.

Introverts are natural question askers,

and you can use this to your advantage when you don't want to be in the

spotlight or you don't know what to say, let others do all the talking.

And here's an effective way to do that when you're preparing your questions in

advance,

avoid focusing on questions that have a simple yes or no answer,

for example, are you having a good time or do you like the food?

Those questions can have a simple yes or no.

And that immediately shuts down the conversation.

Instead in your preparation focus on questions that require

detailed answers.

We call these open questions in English and they're easy to identify because

they start with question words, such as who, what, when, where,

why, how, how many, how long, how often and so on.

Here are just a few examples of fantastic open questions.

What's been the highlight of your year so far?

What project are you working on right now?

What exciting opportunities are on the horizon for your team?

How did you get into your profession?

What challenges do you think the industry is facing right now,

before I move on to tip number four,

there's one added benefit of asking these open questions.

They naturally make you more interesting.

I know that sounds a little bit strange,

but individuals who are effective at asking questions are

interesting people to talk to. If you don't believe me,

I recommend that you check out my lesson titled how to be cool and interesting

in English. What you discover might surprise you.

And now tip number four,

find common areas of interest as you ask your great open

ended questions, listen carefully. As you do that,

you'll quickly identify common areas of interest.

And this is what can lead to more meaningful conversation and

lasting relationships.

A great way to show someone that you're listening carefully.

And you've identified an area of common interest.

Something that you want to talk more about is to reflect back to them.

What you've heard, what that means is repeating what you heard them say.

And turning that into a question. For example,

maybe you're at a social networking event with everyone in the company.

While you're chatting with one of your colleagues.

You hear her say that she's been really struggling with how to implement

all these new policies and rules around the budget this year to show that you

heard her and that you have found something of interest that you want to keep

talking. You could say,

you mentioned that it's been a real struggle to implement some of these new

policies. So how's it going?

Have you been successful and where do you still have some challenges?

Do you see how I did that?

I repeated what I heard and I used it to continue the conversation.

Here are some other ways you can do that. Oh, you play tennis. So do I,

where do you like to play? I love cooking too. What's your favorite cuisine?

I heard you say you're into hiking. Where do you usually go on the weekends?

And that leads me into tip number five,

which is make it easy to participate in the conversation.

If you've planned your questions in advance,

then make sure that you're also ready to answer those same

questions. Have you ever noticed that when you ask a question,

most people will answer and then say, and what about you?

Where do you like to hike on the weekends? Or where do you play tennis?

And that is the evolution of turn-taking in a conversation.

Every good conversation has back and forth where everyone

participates. So when you're following tip number one,

and you're preparing your questions in advance,

make sure that you're selecting questions,

that you're also ready and willing to answer. So for example,

if you're going to ask the question, what have you been working on lately?

Be sure to take time,

to also prepare your own answer to that question so that you feel well

prepared and ready to go. And finally,

our last tip for networking in English so that it's easy to meet other people.

Even if you're an introvert is be genuine.

It is absolutely okay if you're not comfortable when

networking and it's also okay, to be honest about it,

you might be surprised to discover how many people feel the same way.

For example,

if you're meeting peers at an international conference and you have no idea how

to start a conversation,

and it feels a little awkward to just introduce yourself,

you could say something like, I'm not great at breaking the ice, but...

or I'm not great at breaking the ice, so...

I'm not great at breaking the ice. So I'll just introduce myself. I'm Annemarie,

I'm an English coach and an entrepreneur. How about you? And another example,

I'm not even going to pretend that I have a fancy ice breaker,

so I'll just introduce myself. Hi, I'm Annemarie,

and I'm a marketing specialist and you are your genuine honesty

in those moments can put other nervous networkers at ease

and help open the flow to conversation more quickly. And with that,

you have six powerful tips to network in English and meet other

people more easily. Even if you're shy. Before we finish,

I want to give you a chance to put some of this into practice.

I'm going to share with you three different situations.

And I want you to use these as an opportunity to think about how you would begin

a conversation.

How would you use this as an opportunity to network with someone as you review

these situations, you can share your example,

answers with me in the comments below situation. Number one,

you're attending a trade show and your dream company has a booth.

You would love to find out more about working with that company and what the

possibilities might be.

How would you initiate the conversation with someone working at that booth

situation? Number two,

you're sitting next to someone in your industry at a conference.

What would you say to start a conversation and situation? Number three,

you're at a networking in a room full of potential customers.

How would you start a conversation with one of them review the tips I've shared

with you here and share your answers with me as always,

if you found this lesson useful to you, I would love to know.

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Thank you so much for joining me. And I look forward to seeing you next time.