The opportunities for networking are ideal at the cocktail hour of workshops, seminars and other organized business functions. And it stands to reason that we should display our best etiquette while there.
Here are a few pointers to remember:
Get in the habit of holding your drink in your left hand. This makes it easier, and quicker, to shake hands with someone. There’s nothing worse than a wet handshake.
Place your name badge on your right lapel. Because most of us are right-handed, we tend to use this hand to attach the name badge. But in doing so, we usually find it easier to reach up and place it on our left lapel. This is wrong. When a name badge is placed on your right lapel, it is much more comfortable for a person to glance down at it when shaking your hand.
When you introduce two people you know to each other, try to use 3 to 5 “backgrounders” on each. When you say: “Mary, I’d like you to meet a business acquaintance – Bob. He has been doing our accounting for over five years now, and is great with tax laws. He’s also an outdoor enthusiast who would rather be sailing than crunching numbers.” In that intro, Mary has a choice of topics to open a discussion with. And you can leave the two alone, knowing they won’t be stuck with nothing to say.
