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Bored Meetings

by Andy Bounds on April 4, 2013 · 0 comments

Eight simple ways to stop tedious meetings ruining your week

Multi-ethnic group portraitBNI meetings are brilliant – lots gets done. There’s bundles of energy.  Everyone contributes.

Most business meetings, of course, aren’t like this.  In fact, research by Epson found that inefficient meetings cost the UK economy £26billion per year.  Apparently, we waste an average of nearly three hours every week because of inefficiencies in meetings.

Here are my eight ways to transform meetings, so you get more done, more quickly, and with minimal waste. [click to continue…]

Small talk makes a big difference to business networking

by Richard White on October 4, 2012 · 0 comments

One of my pet hates at networking meetings is to meet someone for the first time and they jump straight into ‘So, what do you do?’

It’s very common but just because other people do it does not mean it’s effective. It tends to lead to conversations without connection and networking is all about connection.

Small talk is to networking what oil is to an engine. It makes everything run so much more smoothly. With a bit of old fashioned small talk, people tend to open up more and connect with you. Of course you will inevitably get to the ‘What do you do?’ but it gets much better results if you have broken the ice and gotten the conversation warmed up first.

A simple way of getting the small talk going at a networking event is to make a positive comment followed by a question: For example:

‘This is a lovely venue, have you been here before? or

‘It’s very busy in here. Is this your first time at this event?’ or

‘This is very impressive. Are you a member?’

Be the one who gets the conversation going. Once the other person has launched into ‘What do you do?’ it’s quite hard to get back to the small talk. Better you take the lead, introduce yourself, and then get some small talk going.

The great thing is that when you get good at small talk then the world becomes one giant networking meeting. People who follow my blog will know that I chat to people anywhere – even at my local health spa in the sauna!

You never know who you might be sitting next to on an aeroplane or standing behind in a queue. Us British tend to queue a lot and each time is a potential networking opportunity if you start with a bit of small talk. It’s tempting sometimes to join a long queue just for the networking opportunity!

Richard White
Richard White is a sales coach and trainer. He specialises in helping IT consultants win more sales through effective networking. Richard is the author of ‘The Accidental Salesman Networking Survival Guide’ and is a highly sought after speaker on the subjects of networking and soft selling.

Remember Your Networking Toolkit

by Rob Brown on August 6, 2012 · 0 comments

You know you should network, and you hopefully know where you should be networking. But you can’t turn up to an event or network meeting empty-handed. What you bring with you through the door separates the good networkers and GREAT networkers. The good will go to the event, the great will go completely prepared. And part of showing up prepared is your ‘networking toolkit’.

Your networking toolkit will ensure that you achieve the best possible results from any networking event. Your toolkit is one of the biggest keys to the networking doors of success. Let’s take a look at some of the things your networking toolkit contains… [click to continue…]