With the help of nearly a dozen contributing experts in networking, career counselor and self-described introvert Tolstoi-Miller provides an easy-to-read and clearly expressed insider’s guide to quick and comfortable communication with potential business prospects through speed networking events.
Although other books have been written on the subject, in NETWORKING KARMA: How Today’s Cutting Edge Networking Trends Can Help You Connect and Conquer, Tolstoi-Miller’s particular angle is the karma involved in the process. For instance, she encourages visualization that focuses on the results of the goal, rather than the how of getting it done. She assures readers that being sincere and authentic works far more efficiently than bragging and posing. As time is severely restricted at speed networking events, Tolstoi-Miller advises using crisp clear language that gets right to the point, developing a personal brand, and improving your listening skills to really hear what people say. It’s not about selling a service or product; it’s about making a meaningful connection.
Using some of the same techniques of speed dating, but working for an entirely different goal, speed networking involves meeting other business people in complementary fields, so that mutual and cooperative relationships can be established. She and her contributors of authors, advisors, and experts guide readers through various aspects of making a good impression, including full chapters devoted to “The Elevator Pitch,” “Business Cards Mean Business,” “Leveraging Social Media,” and “Hosting a Speed Networking Event.” Additional topics (with which most of us are already familiar) include tips on clothing, posture, and grooming during business functions, along with a few real-life examples of what not to do during a speed networking event.
Many of the 14 chapters contain bulleted points, to-do lists, diagrams, photographs, and other useful additions to emphasize or elaborate on specific points in the text. Helpful lists of references, contributor descriptions, and resources are provided as back matter. A brief – though important – epilogue notes a surprising way in which networking helped save the author’s life.
NETWORKING KARMA has lots more heart than most business books, in addition to providing sound advice for introverts trying to thrive in the extroverted world of business networking.
~IndieReader