Standing and doing nothing in a room full of people that all seem to have something to do is an isolating and uncomfortable feeling. But it does happen--get stuck too long standing alone and your instinct to flee REALLY starts to kick in. You glance at the door more and more and the reasons to leave RIGHT NOW sound better and better. STOP! Don't give into a self-defeating instinct.Remember how smart you were? Before driving over to tonight's meeting you grabbed a small stack of business cards that you'd collected at previous events (maybe 5 or 6) and stuffed them in one of your pockets for just this moment.
Now that you find yourself stuck and wondering how to get past this spot, you reach into your pocket and pull out your stash of cards. Holding them in both hands you begin to study them one at a time. To anyone in the room glancing your way you appear to be doing your networking homework and hard-coding facts into your head about people you've already met this evening.
What you're really doing is thinking about your next move. From time to time you look up and glance around considering where your next conversation will begin. Suddenly the spark is back--you know your next move. You confidently put the cards back in your pocket and stride into the crowd ready to engage.
Congratulations! You are one stride closer to being the successful face-to-face business networking guru you've always aspired to be. Tally-HO!!
