5 Ways to Shine When Virtual Networking
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It’s probably hard to remember the last time you strode into a brightly lit conference center with a smile on your face and a name badge pinned to your jacket, all-set to turn on the charm at another wine-fueled networking event. You’d spend the evening listening to a few talks, chatting with colleagues, shaking hands, and exchanging business cards. With any luck, by the end of the evening, your network would have grown a little bit bigger.
COVID-19 has put a temporary halt to traditional networking events, but it’s certainly possible to foster new and meaningful relationships from the comfort of your own home. In light of recent disruptions, organizations have grown increasingly creative in their approach to managing, engaging, and entertaining their remote workforce — a commitment that extends to hosting virtual networking events.
If you’ve been invited to an online networking event, you might be feeling apprehensive. There’s no question that networking in the absence of face-to-face interaction is tricky, but the more you do it, the better you’ll get at it and the more comfortable you’ll feel. Here are five ways to shine when virtual networking.
1. Be Present and Focused
It’s much easier to get away with attempted multitasking when you’re working from home. Whether you’re in your weekly team meeting, watching a presentation, or attending a networking event, your mind can wander to your to-do list.
No one will know if you reply to a few urgent emails or pay an invoice while you allow the conversations happening around you to pass you by, but that doesn’t mean it’s a good idea.
Treat a virtual event exactly as you would an in-person one. Block the time out in your calendar, switch off your email notifications, grab a notebook and pen, and be present. You won’t have the capacity to engage with your fellow attendees if you are not 100% focused.
2. Leverage Digital Features
Virtual conferences typically include lots of creative features to enable easy interaction between attendees. Be sure to leverage the tools at your disposal including chat channels, discussion boards, break-out rooms, and conference or session hashtags.
In particular, seize any opportunity to join smaller networking groups — this is the best way to get involved in more meaningful conversations and make connections with individual attendees.
If your organization is a little slower to the virtual networking game, consider setting up your own events. Establishing a regular informal meeting, such as a remote co-working session or a virtual lunch-club, is a great way to meet like-minded people in your industry and grow your professional network.
3. Be Open-minded
Don’t approach a virtual networking event with a defeatist mindset. You’ll struggle to get anything out of it if you arrive expecting the whole thing to be a waste of time.
One of the advantages of a virtual conference or networking event is that you can engage with other attendees throughout the presentations and speak to multiple people at once. Chatting in real-time with dozens of other attendees makes it easier to comment on key points and exchange insights, which often leads to more fruitful discussions. Commit to being active during these conversations.
4. Ask Questions
Another way to demonstrate your engagement and make yourself seen is to ask thoughtful questions.
If there are going to be guest speakers at the event, do your research in advance and come prepared to raise some insightful discussion points. If the virtual event is limited to networking alone, it’s still worth trying to find out who will be attending in advance. Decide who you are most interested to meet and what questions you’d like to ask them.
5. Follow Up After the Event
You might find it hard to fully connect with someone at a virtual networking event, but it’s a great first step.
The second step involves following up. Connect with the people you spoke to on LinkedIn, send a follow-up email, or set up a second meeting — whether it’s in-person or a virtual coffee date.
Get in touch with the event organizers and speakers to say thank you for their efforts and let them know if there was anything you particularly enjoyed. Not only is it important to express your gratitude, but this thoughtful gesture may secure you invitations to future events.
Image Credit: Vadym Pastukh / Shutterstock
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