Funny you should ask that, I’ve been to two in the last fortnight. Last nights one was particularly good as the numbers weren’t huge so it was possible to network with the whole room in an organised manner. The one 2 weeks ago had over 100 people there and often people didn’t move on when their time was up, and secondly the noise level was horrendous and made it difficult to be heard or make yourself heard.
Overall much better than ordinary networking, if managed properly.
The basic tips for speed networking are:
Introduce yourself first, then your business name with a firm hand shake while making eye contact and smiling. (sounds like a lot but really easy and basic)
Hand over your business card. (Got a chocolate business card last night in a small business card holder with the company’s paper business card under it, nice touch)
Give a brief synopsis of what your business does (like an elevator pitch)
Describe current clients
Say what type of potential clients you are looking for
Say what type of help you would like (if you are looking for an introduction to a certain market sector, then say that)
Mairéad
