Tired of going to business networking events?  Tired of having little to show from your networking efforts except a bunch of business cards from people you don’t remember much about?  Here’s something to try the next time you go to a networking meeting.

Don’t tell anyone anything about your business. 

It sounds strange, but you’ll have more fun and even get a better response by not talking about yourself.  When someone asks you what you do, simply say “I’m trying a new exercise where I don’t talk about me while I’m here.  Instead, today I want to find out about other people and how I might be able to help them.”  And then go right back to talking about their business.

You might be asking yourself, “How do I go through entire conversations without talking about myself?”  There is a trick to making this exercise work.  The key to focusing the conversation on the other person is to ask them questions about themselves and their businesses.  Take an interest in the other person.  This exercise works because most people in networking situations are looking to talk about their business – you are simply giving them an audience. 

By the end of the event you’ll have discovered a great deal about the other people in the room; about them personally and what’s going on in their businesses.  You’ll be much better situated to help them by making connections or by giving suggestions.  You’ll also be well along the way building a strong professional relationship with the people you met, and that’s the most important goal of this exercise. 

The next time you meet, and you do tell them about yourself and your business, they are much more likely to care and want to help.  It’s easy to forget that networking is based on relationships, and relationships are based on communication.  By listening first, you demonstrate that you care about them and their success; and you show them that they can trust you to build that networking relationship.