BE WISE, SOCIALISE BEING STUCK BEHIND YOUR DESK FOR HOURS ON END MAY SHOW YOUR DEDICATION
TO THE JOB, BUT PAS NEED TO GET OUT THERE AND NETWORK IN ORDER TO PERFORM THEIR ROLE MORE EFFECTIVELY, AS ABIGAIL WILLS FINDS OUT
I CAN’T TELL you how much I have got out of networking,” says Sue France, a PA and the
current UK national chair of the Association of European Management Assistants. She is also someone who has travelled the world as a speaker, embracing the opportunities that networking has afforded her. “What is networking? Learning about other people, making connections, fi nding common links, building and maintaining relationships and working together for mutual benefi ts,” summarises France, adding that it can be done anywhere, from an organised event to the gym. Another person who is a fi rm believer in the
benefi ts of networking is Dana Gornitzki, the founder and mistress of manners at the Charm School. Based in London, the school aims to take the ethos, skills and lessons of old-fashioned fi nishing schools and bring them into the modern day. Gornitzki’s workshops include topics such as how to
make small talk, and she echoes France’s passion for networking. “Only good things can come out of meeting people. The biggest changes come out of the smallest conversations,” she comments. “We do a lot of communicating behind
PEOPLE WHO ARE LIKE THEM
PEOPLE LIKE
screens these days, be it texting, emailing or using social networks. We’ve become a little bit casual because virtual communication allows us to do that. So people will put a kiss at the end of an email or use emoticons [the pictorial representation of a facial expression using punctuation marks] and a lot of the face-to- face communication skills have been forgotten,” she explains.
And fi rst impressions really do count, notes
France. “It takes just a few seconds for us to form an opinion of someone, and 93 per cent of that is down to their body language and attitude, while just seven per cent is because of the words they use,” she says. Before entering a room, make sure you are in the right state of mind says France. “Enter
with your head up and shoulders back. Have a fi rm handshake, but not vice-like. Say your fi rst name, pause, then repeat your fi rst name again, followed by your surname.” Have an ice-breaker ready, advises
Gornitzki. “Perhaps talk about the event you are attending. Do not launch straight into who you are and what you do; let the conversation unfold. Avoid the topics of politics, religion and money,” she says. And France adds that it pays to perfect your ‘elevator pitch’ – if you had just a few seconds to describe what you do, could you do it in a succinct and inspiring way? “What stops us from networking?” asks
France. “Being out of our comfort zone – our own limiting beliefs and negative gremlins. The fact that we can’t be bothered, other commitments and a lack of confi dence. We have three main fears: dying, networking and dying while networking,” she jokes. The characteristics of a good networker
are being confi dent, brave, courteous, a good listener, kind, approachable, smiling, thoughtful and friendly, she says. People like people who are like them. Match and mirror
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MARCH 2013 • PALife
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