The 30-Second Rule
A good friend and collegue of mine told me about a networking convention she went to this morning, where a selected group of members are allowed to bring guests - all for the same purpose - networking.
The convention starts off with a general introduction section, where each person has exactly 30 seconds to introduce himself to the rest of the group, explain why he is here and why he is need of networking.
The concept is brilliant: Bring in powerful people from every trade, all looking to make new contacts, and put them in a room together. Give them 30 seconds to sell their story and then set them free and see what they’ll do.
The beauty is that all the people attending come from different fields of work, so there is no threat of immediate competition in the air. It’s just about getting to know new people, sharing what you know and seeing what happenss. Maybe you’ll meet just the person you need to help you close a certian deal.. or maybe you’ll meet a new catering company for your upcoming weekend shindig. My friend found both.
Ok, so besides the fact that I think networking is becoming one of the best things to ever happen to humanity (but I will leave that for a different post…), I was also impressed by this 30-second-stopwatch-in-hand method which has also been recommended by the Wall Street Journal for finding a new job. They called it the “elevator speech”:
Prepare an “elevator speech.” Write a summary of what you want people to know about you that can be delivered in less than 30 seconds. Make it upbeat and succinct: who you are, what you do, what you’re looking for. More than that, and you risk turning off the listener, says Debra Condren, a career coach and business psychologist with offices in New York and San Francisco. Since you get only one chance to make a first impression, she recommends practicing your elevator speech in front of a mirror, and then on friends, before taking it to a networking event.
So when we are at that critical point, when chance (or networking or ‘coincidences’) takes us to the person or moment that can help us achieve our dreams, we have 30 seconds to make the most of it. That’s a big deal. I still have no idea what my “elevator speech” would be; I need to really think about that one. But as soon as I do, I will post it.
What would your 30 seconds be like?
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