Speaker 1: In this video, I'm going to teach you how to start a conversation at a networking event. So if conversation starters or starting a conversation when networking is something you struggle with, then this video is for you. Hi, I'm Kyra Ronan and I help emerging leaders just like you build your visibility and influence so you can unlock your leadership potential. If you want my advice every week, then make sure you subscribe and hit the notification bell. Don't forget to download your leadership evaluation toolkit when finishing this video. The link is in the description below. So when I was in the corporate world, I did not understand the importance of networking. I would never go to networking events external to my organization and I was working for Deloitte at that time. I only networked inside the company. It wasn't until I started my business in 2012 that I understood how important networking was. I knew that if I wanted clients, I had to network. I had to get out there, get people to see who I am, what services I offer, and how I can help them. So I registered for as many networking events as I could, as many as I could afford, and I spent lots of money over the years on networking events. Now, what I found when it comes to conversation starters is that the more traditional ones really worked better for me. They felt more natural to me. These are proven conversation starters that people have been using for many years. And there's a reason for that. They're non-threatening and they make people feel comfortable. You have to remember that when you're at a networking event, when you're meeting people for the first time, they're going to be wary of you. They're going to be wondering who you are, what do you want? Are you a threat to them or should they be friends with you? And by using traditional conversation starters, these are conversation starters that people know of, that they expect to be asked at a networking event. It makes them feel comfortable. It doesn't intimidate them and it doesn't threaten them. Whereas if you ask innovative or original questions because you're afraid of sounding boring, you can risk intimidating or putting the other person off in some way. So let's look at some of the non-awkward conversation starters you can use at networking events. Number one is use traditional conversation starters. These are fail-safe conversation starters like, what do you do? Or what line of work are you in? People expect these questions at networking events and they work. They help the other person relax. They help them feel that you are a safe person to talk to. Now some people don't like to ask these questions. They feel that they're boring. Everyone asks these questions at networking events. So they want to ask something that's different, that's more original, that's innovative. This is fine, but in my opinion you are there to connect with people. You are not there at a networking event to impress people with your intelligence, with your wit or your creative ideas. You're there to connect with them and if asking traditional questions that everybody else asks will help you connect with them because it makes them feel safe, then in my mind that is a better question to ask at a networking event. Number two is work-related conversation starters. So the purpose of these types of conversation starters is to get to know more about that person's job or about their background. So some things you could ask here are, how long have you been working in XYZ industry? Where did you do your studies? What do you like best about your job? These types of questions get people talking about their job and their background, which is a really good way to get them to start a conversation with you. People generally love to talk about their background. They love to talk about their journey, about how they got from where they were from their studies to where they are now. Whenever somebody asks me this question at a networking event, I love to talk about my background. I love to talk about when I was teaching English in Japan, when I was working for Deloitte in Japan, how I started my own business and why I started my business. I love answering these questions. It makes me feel like that person is genuinely interested in me and is not trying to push their objectives or their salesy approach on me at the networking event. They're simply interested in getting to know me more. When you get people to reflect on their life, it makes them feel important. It makes them feel special. And they will walk away from that conversation, from that moment with you, with a positive impression of you. This is much better than when people try to push their services on you, when they try to tell you all about what they do and why you should buy their products or why you should buy their services. This is a big deterrent at many networking events. And many people who attend are very scared of coming across somebody like that. So don't be like that. I want you to focus on the other person. Make them feel special. Make them feel important by asking them questions about their background. Number three is event related conversation starters. So you are at that event with that person. You have that commonality with them. Why not leverage this and ask them questions about that event? You can ask things like, have you been to this event before? How did you find out about this event? Have you met many people tonight? These types of questions can trigger answers like, no, I've never been to this event before. A friend told me about it and we decided to come together. Which can then lead you to jump into the conversation and ask more questions like, oh, is your friend here tonight? Do you work together? Or it can trigger an answer like, yeah, I come to this event every month. I love it. Which can lead you to ask a question like, oh, what do you like so much about this event? It's not hard to ask the right questions at a networking event to get the conversation started. And they certainly don't have to be the most innovative or original questions that you need to ask. Don't worry about being boring. Don't worry about what other people will think of you. I think a lot of people are afraid to use these traditional proven questions that have worked for many people over many years because they're afraid of being boring. But honestly, is someone really going to say to you, well, I'm not going to answer that question. It's boring. I'm going to go talk to somebody else. I doubt it. But even if they did, it's really not the kind of person you want to connect with anyway. So I hope these conversation starters that I've shared with you were very helpful for you. If you do want to learn more about networking or about starting conversations with people or even continuing and ending conversations, then definitely check out my Business Etiquette 101 Social Skills for Success video course. It's available on Udemy. Over 13,000 students have been through this course, so it's a very popular, very helpful course for young professionals. I will put a discount link in the description below if you want to check it out. And if you want to see more videos like this every week, then make sure you subscribe and hit the notification bell. Check out the other videos on the screen right here. Thank you so much for watching, and I will see you again next week.