Singapore Entrepreneurs

Most people in Singapore, whether students or entrepreneurs find it hard to interact in a networking. They are either suffering from a lack of confidence or have no idea how to network properly. Continuing our quick tips for networking series, we focus on two important tactics in doing successful networking. The first is the power of self-belief and the second will discuss the tools that you need when you are schmoozing in a networking event.

“God helps those who help themselves” - Benjamin Franklin

The first rule to successful networking is the power of self-belief. You must have the confidence and guts to walk around a networking event to talk to people. Please do not give reasons like “I am shy” or “I don’t know what to say”. I hear these excuses from people, mostly from my students. Nobody starts off as a brilliant networking person. It comes with a lots of practice, and the analogy is similar to some people learning how to dance properly. The only reason why the other person is better than you in networking is that he or she practises more often. It is good to go to networking events alone because you will avoid being squeezed in a corner with your friends, unless you need a partner to go with you.

Here are some important things that you need to be good in networking:

1. Dress up properly: It is always important to dress up for an networking event. There are a few factors to consider before you move into a networking event. If you are going for a high net-worth individuals and classy type of networking event, formal wear for both sexes are crucial. For the men, the definition of formal means that you need to dress in a suit with tie and for the women, it can mean either wearing a gown or a business suit. On the other hand, if you are invited to a MTV event, smart casual wear will save you from being overdressed for the occasion. Knowing what to wear is important. For example, for most business conferences, the dress code is business casual. What does business casual means? To some people, it means you can either wear a jacket and pants without tie or a long sleeved collar shirt with a tie.

   One strategy to ensure that you are always wearing the right kind of clothes for the right occasion is to ask a fashion-conscious lady friend to shop with you, whether you are a man or a woman. Believe it or not, some people also look at the shoes you wear as well. For a skilled networker, from the top to the bottom, it is important to dress sensibly and properly.

2. Your box of name cards: You must have at least fifty name cards in your pocket. You can use a name card holder to illustrate a little sophistication, in addition to dressing up depending on the occasion. One should take note on how the card is presented to the other individual, particularly in different cultures. In Asia, it is important to hold your name card with both hands and present it to the other party, while in the US, you can simply pass the namecard to the other person with one hand. The namecards must have your name, designation in your company, contact email and telephone number. For students, you should bring namecards that represent your university. The reason is that it demonstrates some professionalism.
3. Body Language: Whatever you do in a networking session is important. Please do not appeared bored, depressed or not interested or enthusiastic to the person who you are speaking to. You should always treat the other person, whether he is important or not with some respect. If you are a famous person, you can see it the other way round.
4. Knowledge is Power: You need to know the terrain, the guest list and how to impress your guest. First, the terrain, you must know where the best place to catch a VIP. I will deal with this issue in more depth in the future. Next, you need to find out who are the people that are present. You might want to work out beforehand who you want to speak to. I always try to find out who will attend the occasion from the organizers so that I am prepared on the topic and issue that I want to bring to the person. Particularly for VIPs, this is very important. Lastly, you need to know what to say. Face it, a lot of students (both local and foreign) are ignorant, because they don’t do a lot of reading. If you are in Stanford, Cambridge or MIT, before you are heading to a networking event organized by a management consultancy, investment bank or law firm, your seniors will tell you to read up Financial Times, Harvard Business Review, the Economist and Wall Street Journal. You have to be able to pull off some independent thought about the industry so that the people in these companies are impressed and see something different in you. For an entrepreneur, if you walk into a networking without a good knowledge of the industry you are targetting, you are doomed to fail in front of a venture capitalist.

So, what are you waiting for? Do start getting prepared for the next networking event.

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