Professional networking is a whole new environment for many internationals who have freshly arrived or who have lived in the States for years and are now being faced with career transition, responsibility migration, or career promotion. In all cases, one might find him or herself faced with a new environment, purpose-centered communication, behavioral protocols, and professional etiquette around self or company promotion and relationship building. These areas are not entirely intuitive to native-English speakers at all times either. Networking effectiveness takes time and practice. Do you decide to eat the large buttery shrimp appetizers being passed around before introducing yourself to Mr. CEO of XYZ Corporation? Do you try to speak to everyone or a few? At what point in the conversation does one exchange business cards?

There is certainly a lot to cover here on the topic of networking, but for a few short take-aways on what’s important and immediately applicable, think about the following:

1. Make sure this event is the right fit. Research the sponsoring organization, learn about members who regularly attend, and try to assess whether this is the right match for your purposes; some events will be a waste of time if not well-matched with your interests.
2. Why are you there? To meet prospective clients or to recruit prospective employees for your company? To create visibility and reach a prospective market for your own business? To self promote in the interests of looking for a job? Your personal pitch, or message, should match this purpose completely.
3. Practice your pitch, or message, over and over again until you get it right. Do this with a trusted professional colleague or business smart friend.
4. If possible, get the list of attendees expected at the event. Fear of the unknown is what makes engagements like these hardest at first. It also helps to target a few folks you’re really interested in connecting with.
5. Your pitch shouldn’t go over 30 seconds to a minute.
6. Your pitch should be free from grammatical errors or mispronunciations. Check with a friend or colleague to make sure it’s comprehensible. Strive for full and consistent eye contact throughout.
7. You’ll find some fun and very practical “how-to” advice on crafting your pitch here.

This topic certainly deserves more attention, especially from the vantage point of language, culture, and protocol. Stay tuned for the next blog post. We’ll be looking at a pitch or two for analysis, your input and will be answering some of the most common questions about professional networking from an international perspective.

Until then, Business Week has a good article on elevator pitches that is worth a read.

Thanks for tuning in! We appreciate your comments and questions.

I have been in the habit of reading e-mails out loud while working on professional writing strategies with clients. This fared useful especially in a recent coaching session. For this particular client, we replaced his “somebody” with a “someone” in an e-mail to an external client. I explained to him that “somebody” and “anybody” are colloquial forms mostly used in speaking. While it’s true that we use these forms in writing as well, it is the case only in literary or less formal writing. For similar reasons, “gonna” and “wanna” are devoid in formal writing, as well as in formal speaking. If you catch yourself saying these too much in a professional setting, be wary. It is jarring to the ears and can damage your credibility as a professional speaker. Try consciously interchanging “wanna” with “I’d like to” and “gonna” with “I’m going to”, “I plan on doing”, or “I’ll be doing.” It’s good to vary your expressions and it sounds more put-together overall.

So remember, take the “body’s” out of your writing. While it may seem like a small detail, chances are there are a number of other things going on in your writing. The more you can do to attract more attention to your message–and less to your writing– the better.

Do you have a question or comment on this article? Please let us know.