It’s essential to have a diverse network of professional contacts if you expect to reach ambitious career goals. Around the Eclipse California office, we believe public speaking skills and networking success go hand in hand. We use the following tactics to sharpen our presenting abilities and become more adept networkers at the same time:
• Knowing Our Audience: Just as you must know your listeners’ main concerns when giving a speech, it’s helpful to know as much as possible about the people you hope to connect with at big industry events. In both instances, we do research through social media – especially LinkedIn – to get some background info on the people we want to reach.
• Crafting Strong Pitches: When we represent Eclipse California behind the podium, we do our best to grab the audience’s attention within the first 30 seconds. The same is true of our networking exploits. We craft compelling elevator pitches that give potential contacts a good idea of our unique skills, future goals, and past achievements.
• Using Positive Body Language: We use our hands to emphasize key points during speeches and when networking. When it comes to posture, we stand tall and straight in both cases, with shoulders back to project openness.
These strategies serve us well both at the podium and in the networking arena. To get more of our best success tips, be sure to like Eclipse California on Facebook.