STR 1000 WORKSHOP 3

STARTER NETWORKING
WORKSHOPS How to Build Your Tribe
& CLINICS WORKBOOK

Circle what networking really is

Conversation or Con
Quality or Quantity
Giving or Taking
Long-term or Short-term
Ongoing or Occasional

CONTINUUM OF FORMALITY

I am most comfortable with these activities

1.

2.

My Weak Ties How I will connect with them

1.

2.

3.

BRING YOUR WORKBOOK TO EVERY SESSION

Your Networking / Interview Pitch
State your name and share your background

Attention hook

Supporting evidence

Ask your question / describe the value you bring

BRING YOUR WORKBOOK TO EVERY SESSION

BRING YOUR WORKBOOK TO EVERY SESSION
The 3 Magic Questions in networking are

1.

2.

3.

How to apply for your cards from the BBA office:

1. https://inetapps.nus.edu.sg/biz/aspnet/ug/namecard/registration.asp
2. Scroll to bottom of page; where it appears “For the ordering of name cards,
please visit this link”. Click on the link
3. Apply for your name cards

• Only for NUS Business School students

• Collect as soon as you receive the notification

BRING YOUR WORKBOOK TO EVERY SESSION

How to order your name badge from Career Services:
1. Access Name Badge Order Form - link to the form can be found in Document
Library (under Resources) on NUS BIZ Symplicity
2. Complete the online form
3. Career Services will email you when your badge is ready for collection
4. Collect your badge from the Career Services Office and pay S$6 for your badge

What to note about The Approach

What to note about During the Conversation

What to note about Ending the Conversation

Circle the right answer

1. An Informational Interview is one where you ask for information / a job

2. It is always best to interview someone from the company that you want to work
for. True / False
3. The best person to contact for an Informational Interview is the Head (>5
years) / Mid-Level (2 – 5 years) / Junior (<2 years)

Email Request for an Informational Interview

1. Tell them how you found them (I found you when I was researching project
management / my professor recommended that I speak with you)
2. A respectful check-in (I hope you don’t mind me reaching out to you directly)
3. A sincere compliment (I found your experience very inspiring for x reason)
4. Your current status (I am currently working towards my degree in and I have
been interested in x for a number of years)
5. Make your request (I would like to ask if you have some time for a quick coffee
or phone call. I would like to find out more about the work you do / industry)

BRING YOUR WORKBOOK TO EVERY SESSION

The person I will request an Informational Interview with is

Questions to ask at Informational Interviews

To follow up with a connection, I should send

Timing Type of Email

Same day

1 week later

2 – 3 weeks later

MAKE SOME NOTES!

BRING YOUR WORKBOOK TO EVERY SESSION

 Old connections
 New connections
 Diverse backgrounds
 Person (not position)
 Network hubs
 Connecting lines
This needs effort; it does NOT
happen by accident alone
 100 Conversation Starters for Virtually Any Situation
Written by Aja Frost | @ajavuu
http://blog.hubspot.com/sales/conversation-starters-for-any-situation#sm.00000wp26by44le2uplu27hs1h6rd

Conversation Starters to Use at a Conference

Conferences are chock-full of opportunities to ask thought­ provoking, relevant, and engaging questions. You
can discuss the specific event, its location, your industry, the other person’s objectives, what they've learned,
and more.
1. Which [speaker/panel] are you most excited for?
2. Which [speaker/panel] did you most enjoy? Which did you find the most useful?
3. If you could meet one speaker from this event, who would it be?
4. If you could have your entire company watch a single session from this event, which would it be?
5. If you were giving a presentation, what would the topic be?
6. How does this conference compare to others you've attended?
7. If you were running this conference, what would you do differently?
8. What did you think of the talk [length, structure, style]?
9. Have you gone to this conference before? What's changed?
10. What's the most surprising thing you've learned? (If the conference isn’t over, add "so far?")
11. Why did you decide to attend?
12. Are you planning on coming back next year?
13. Are you here with other people? Do you prefer going to conferences solo or with a group?
14. Are you doing any non-conference activities while you're here? (Alternatively: "Did you fit in any non-­
conference activities?")
15. Is this your first time in [city]? What do you think of it?
16. Are you from the area? (If yes: "Do you have any [food, museum, shopping, music] recommendations?" If
no: "Where are you from?")
17. Do you think the conference could benefit from being a day [shorter, longer]? Why?
18. I wonder how many people would have attended this conference eight years ago -- what do you think?
19. I wonder how many people will attend this conference in eight years -- what do you think?
20. Do you go to a lot of conferences?
21. What's the first conference you ever attended?
22. Would your company ever host a conference? (Or if they're from a large organization: "Does your company
host conferences?")
23. What conference -- real or imaginary -- would you absolutely hate to miss?
24. Do you think [industry] needs more conferences? Less?
25. What's the primary reason you chose to attend [conference name]?
 100 Conversation Starters for Virtually Any Situation

Conversation Starters to Use at an Industry Event

Attending a highly specific event like a forum comes with some built-in advantages. For one, you usually have
a pretty good sense of which roles and interests the other attendees hold. When you're blanking on topics,
use this information.
1. Have you been to any events hosted by [organizer] before?
2. Why'd you decide to come to this forum?
3. Is [theme of event] a major professional focus of yours?
4. Why do you think they chose this specific theme?
5. By any chance, have you read anything good about [theme of event]?
6. Do you attend any other forums?
7. Are there any upcoming events you're planning on going to?
8. Had you heard of [speaker] before this?
9. Why do you think they chose [speaker]?
10. Have you ever organized an event like this? What surprised you about running the scenes?
11. If you could only remember one fact or insight from this [morning, afternoon, evening], what would it be?
12. What were your thoughts on [specific point speaker made]?
13. Do you have any predictions for how the discussion will go? (Or if the event is wrapping up: "Did the
discussion meet your expectations?")
14. You look so familiar! Did you go to [previous event]?
15. What are your favorite and least favorite things about working in [industry]?
16. How long have you been in [industry]? Have there been any significant changes since you entered this
space?
17. If you could spend an entire day talking to any expert in our industry, who would it be?
18. If you were in charge of this forum, and you had an unlimited budget, what would you do differently?
19. Did you disagree with any of the points made?
20. Did this event change how you think about [industry] and/or your role in [industry]?
21. Do you frequently go to these types of events?
22. How'd you learn about this forum?
23. I'm in the market for a new [phone, computer, notebook, etc.], and I noticed you're using an [iPhone 6,
Lenovo Yoga, Moleskine notebook, etc.] -- would you recommend it?
24. If you had to sum up this event in three words, which would they be?
 100 Conversation Starters for Virtually Any Situation

Conversation Starters to Use at a Networking Happy Hour

Socializing with strangers is always a little easier -- or at least, more relaxed -- at the end of the day. And in
the case that the majority of attendees are local, you've got a ton of built-in questions about the city, how
long they've lived here, what they like to do in the area, and so on at your disposal. As a general rule, your
questions should be a little lighter than the ones you'd use at a conference or speaker event. Happy hours are
for mixing work and play, so match your tone accordingly.
1. What's keeping you busy lately?
2. Did you come here from work?
3. What's your favorite part about living in [city]? Least favorite?
4. What do you think of this venue?
5. If you could only attend one type of networking function for the rest of your life, would you choose
breakfasts or happy hours?
6. Have you tried any of the food? What’s good?
7. What did you get done today?
8. Why did you come tonight?
9. How long have you lived in [city]?
10. Why did you move to [city]?
11. Do you think [city] is a place most people move to, or from?
12. Where did you move to [city] from? What do you miss about your last town -- and what were you happy
to leave behind?
13. If you could only go to one [restaurant, coffee shop, bar] in [city], which one would you choose?
14. As [day of the week]s go, how was yours? (For example, "Did you have a good Monday, as Mondays go?")
15. At this time on a typical [day of the week], what would you be doing?
16. I have a semi-important decision to make, and I'd love your input: Should I have [appetizer #1] or [appetizer
#2]?
17. I just learned "happy hours" were invented in the 1920s on naval ships -- to make sea life a little less boring,
sailors got daily breaks for wrestling and boxing matches. Do you prefer the modern or original version?
18. If you could only eat one thing for the rest of your life, what would you choose?
19. What's the last new skill you learned?
20. Are there any skills you thought would be crucial to your job that turned out to be unimportant?
21. Are there any common misconceptions about your job?
22. I read an article claiming nowadays everyone has a side project (or four). Do you agree? Are you working
on anything on the side?
23. Wow, I see a lot of phones out -- the email addiction is real! Do you think your company could survive if
your CEO banned internal email?
24. Do you think you're the only [title] in the room?
25. If someone was making a movie about your current job, what genre would it be? What would they call it?
 100 Conversation Starters for Virtually Any Situation

Conversation Starters to Use at a Social Event

You might not think of your friend's BBQ or neighbor's block party as prime networking events -- but as the
most successful reps know, great sales opportunities can appear in unlikely places. However, steer away from
job, career, or industry-related questions. Since you're at a social event, less serious subjects are far more
appropriate (and fun). Building rapport is your primary mission -- after the party, you can figure out which
new connections might benefit from your product.
1. If you were in charge of the playlist, which song would you play next?
2. You look like you could be in [random occupation]. Am I anywhere close?
3. If there was $200 at stake, would you be willing to prepare the food using only lunch meat, the contents of
the freezer, and basic kitchen staples?
4. Have you tried any of the [appetizers, drinks, sides, etc.]? Any recommendations?
5. Do you have a signature drink? (Gesture to their glass.)
6. Is your [day/night] going like you expected?
7. Do you prefer hosting events or attending them?
8. Games at parties: Yay, or nay? Why?
9. If you had to switch outfits with one person here, who would it be?
10. Do you know most of the people here?
11. If you could invite anyone to this party and they were guaranteed to show up, who would you ask?
12. I'm trying to plan my next trip -- have you traveled anywhere interesting lately?
13. What do you think are the top three ingredients for a successful party?
14. Would you rather only host fancy dinner parties or theme parties for the rest of your life?
15. Great [shoes/haircut/shirt]! Where'd you get it?
16. What are you reading?
17. If you were stuck on a desert island with four items of your choice from this room, what would you bring?
18. What's the last movie you saw in theatres? Was it worth the trip?
19. What do you not do? (Smile while you ask to show you're being humorous.)
20. Have you been to any great restaurants lately?
21. Got any fun plans for the weekend? I need some inspiration so I don't end up on the couch with some Netflix
and Ben & Jerry's.
22. Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, or Slytherin?
23. Did you fulfill your childhood dream?
24. What's the best gift you've ever gotten? My friend’s birthday is coming up and I'd love some ideas.
25. Are you looking forward to anything in the next few weeks?

The Ultimate Conversation Starter

Last but not least, the ultimate networking question that you can ask anyone, anywhere, anytime:
What do you love about what you do?
 QUESTIONS TO ASK AT INFORMATIONAL INTERVIEWS

SMALL TALK / OPENER QUESTIONS

How is your day going?
What are you working on currently?
What path did you follow to join your employer?

‘TRENDS’ QUESTIONS
What trends are impacting your business right now?
How has your business changed most since you started?
How do you think your business will change most dramatically in the next several years?

‘INSIGHT’ QUESTIONS
What surprises you most about your job/your employer?
What’s the best lesson you’ve learned on the job?
What’s been your most valuable experience at your employ so far, and why?
If you had to attribute your success at your employer to one skill or trait, what would it be?

‘ADVICE’ QUESTIONS
What can I be doing right now to prepare myself for a career in this field?
If I got hired, what would I be sure to do within the first thirty days to ensure that I get off to the best start
possible?
What do you know now that you wish you’d known when you were my age or in my position?
If you were me, what would you be doing right now to maximise your chance of breaking into this industry or
function?

‘RESOURCE’ QUESTIONS
What resources should I be sure to look into next?
What steps would you recommend for someone in my situation?
What kinds of books, websites or blogs do you read regularly to keep current on your industry?

‘ASSIGNMENT’ QUESTIONS
What project(s) have you done for your employer that you felt added the most value?
Have any projects increased in popularity recently at your organisation?
Have you had interns or contractors in the past? If so, what sort of projects have they done?