After 2 months on the job as the BioLinc Ambassador, I’ve had more than my fair share of forced social networking experiences. Being an outgoing person, I’ve welcomed these opportunities with open arms. So I must admit, when I heard I’d be attending a workshop on networking, I wasn’t exactly elated at the idea. Going into the seminar, I was doing my best to stay positive and focused on learning a new tactic to remember names figuring it was all I stood to gain from this presentation.
Then the talk began and within the first minute Marsha told the audience ‘Everyone in this room, even those who believe they themselves are perfect at networking will stand to gain something from this seminar’. It was as if she was speaking directly to me, and honestly, Marsha could not have been more correct. What followed was three hours of fluid conversation and forced awkward social interactions that were some of the most amusing experiences I’ve ever had the pleasure of partaking in during a seminar. Has anyone ever had to stare into a stranger’s eyes for a full minute without being able to look away, speak or move? It is a strangely enlightening experience, in a ‘Nothing will ever be as awkward as this, ever’ kind of way.
From a calming meditation technique to implement in times of stress and peril, to templates for those dreaded follow-up emails and a cool new way to remember people’s names, Marsha was dynamic in her teaching and super approachable during breaks and afterwards. I even had the pleasure of learning some funny British phrases throughout. Never has something so familiar to me like networking felt so foreign, yet by the end of the seminar, everything seemed to obvious, easy and fluid.
In the days since, I’ve had the opportunity to implement these new strategies and they are more effective than anything I had ever tried before. The devil is in the details, so don’t be embarrassed if you require people to repeat their name multiple times in order for you to correctly pronounce it (and remember it!). I always felt it was important to add value to a conversation with people you are networking with in order for them to feel like talking to you is worthwhile. Yet the Marsha taught and Mitchell tested technique of listening more and allowing that person to open up about themselves while asking key questions will leave not only them feeling pleased to have met you, but you in turn will learn more about someone than you could have ever imagined. Trust me, the stories I learned from implementing this technique of networking are incredible. So thank you, Marsha, for truly revolutionizing my daily interactions with people, it was a pleasure to attend your seminar. If anyone is interested in learning more about Marsha and her amazing networking tips you can visit her website at www.yesyesmarsha.com.
Mitchell Cowan
BioLinc Ambassador
