Welcome to the Basics of Networking Workshop! I'm happy you all are here. Here's how this workshop is going to go:

1. We will learn a template for introducing yourself and stating what you do, plus a few other 'canned' responses to common questions.
2. Learn listening skills and leading questions that will enable conversations to happen.
3. Understand how and why to perform network maintenance.

So let me start with a confession - I hate networking. I'm an introvert and too many people tire me out really fast. I used to really hate going into networking events. But over time, I have read and developed some skills that have served me well, and I want to share the best (and worst) of those skills with you.

Before we get started, I want to let you know that the boundaries of this room are officially a Safe Space from now until the end of the hour. I want all of the people around here to promise not to make any judgments on your peers for being here or for practicing. This is a place to practice and support each other, and I ask that nothing that happens in this room leaves here, unless it's the awesome skills that you've developed!

First, let's discuss the idea of presence.

Everybody seems to approach networking type events as a thing that they can't wait to get away from. They're so interested in how many more minutes there are, what they're going to reward themselves with afterwards, or how many more people they promised to talk to, that it's hard to really stop and listen.

Why network if you're not going to listen to anybody or talk to anybody?

So I ask you, instead of dreading the next networking event, try to think about the fact that simply by being present at the event, you can make it so much more useful for yourself and others. I love this quote about presence and listening.

If you're present, if you're paying attention and listening, the conversations can be better and the connections more meaningful. And truly listening is a great skill to have, so we'll practice that too. I'm going to show you some ways to build in openings for others into what you say, and how to look for those opening in what others say.

So now that you're there - showing up is half of the battle! - what do you say?

People often refer to "elevator speeches" as a useful tool. Ugh! As if it ever really happens, that people ask who you are in an elevator.


But it does happen. It happens to me all the time at conferences, but not always in the elevator. Sometimes in the lunch line. Sometimes at a poster. Sometimes in the bathroom, which is awkward, but at least that gives it a good excuse to be awkward.

People ask me, "Oh, you work at Pitt? What do you do there?" or "I've seen your name before, where could that be?" or some other variation of a question that prompts an elevator or elevator-esque speech. Even on campus here, people ask me all the time, "What is a scholarly communications librarian anyway?" I have a response for that that I've memorized: A ScholComm Librarian works on the process of disseminating research, so it's my job to keep track of all the tools, policies, and resources that help scholars spread the word about their scholarship.

So instead of an 'elevator speech', I like to think of these as prepared responses to certain questions that I can put together in a conversation.

Here are some common questions, and I have these available for you on the handout.

Let's think about some tips for these prepared responses.

A good response is one sentence and you can say it in under fifteen seconds. Trust me, fifteen seconds seems like forever. The shorter, the better, but make it to the point.

Some of these can be used in different contexts. "What's your line of work?" would probably not be a question you'd get asked at a library conference, for example, because everybody there is in libraries. However, you might get asked that at a staff mixer, or a variation of that at something like the Wine and Cheese - what department are you from?

For something like "How did you get into this field" or "What's your favorite part" - my best advice for this is to say something true AND authentic. A lot of the time, people will say what they think others would want to hear, or what their supervisor would want them to say, or what would make them sound smart. Here is where I encourage you to be authentic and be your real self. This will lead to a more meaningful connection.

For example, if someone asks me how I got into Scholarly Communication, I could say something like "I've always had a passion for Open Access" which is true, or "It was the job available at a time when I was looking for a job" which is also true, if boring. But being authentic? My response to this question is always this: "I was finishing up my Ph.D. in Linguistics and I was disillusioned with the academic job market; I was seeing so many problems inherent in the system like the pains of the publishing system, with closed access to articles that I needed and bristling at having to sign away my copyright to ensure a publication line on my CV, and I decided that I wanted to do something to help academia and scholars fix the system."

That's much more authentic, plus to an active listener it gives them lots of potential avenues to pursue the conversation - the linguistics experience, the job market, the closed access to articles, signing away copyright, etc. I've given my conversation partner a lot of openings, which is a great skill to develop. So as you write your canned responses, think about what someone could pursue in a networking conversation that might be meaningful to you.

Here's a summary of our tips for good prepared responses. As you work on yours, keep these tips in mind.

Take five minutes and try to answer these two first: What is a (your title)? and How did you get into that field? Try the others if you have time.

Okay, now that you can talk about yourself, keep those close by for practice in a minute. Let's talk about the parts of a conversation. There's an opening, continuation, and closing. We've worked on the middle parts - how you talk about your job and what you work on - but how do you even start a conversatoin? Opening and closing can be the most difficult part. How do you approach someone, and worse, how do you tell someone you're done talking to them? Having a few favorite lines ready to go is one of my fallbacks. For the Wine and Cheese, I made a pamphlet with some of my favorites that you can use and adapt for your own situation. I have these here and they're available in the Box folder I linked.

The one that always works for me to open a conversation is standing in line for food - is that a surprise to anyone who's known me? - I always say something like "I love these events - free food and a chance to meet the person in line next to me! Hi, I'm Lauren and I work a Pitt." Would you believe that this approach got me a position on an ACRL committee? It's true.
Other approaches I like to use are "I saw your poster / talk / workshop and really enjoyed it! I'm Lauren and I do work on ___, and I was so curious about how you came to this research question / dataset / etc."
At the Wine and Cheese, I like to say things like, "Oh, I see you're from the Economics department! I don't get to talk to our economists very much - what kind of work do you do there?" BE CAREFUL about saying things like "There's fascinating research coming out of that department" or "I find the field really interesting" because you have to be able to back that up. If that's not an authentic statement, don't say it, because you'll be seen right through.

Closing a conversation can be very awkward, but there are a few lines that are my fallbacks if a conversation gets excruciating. I like to use the "another person I wanted to catch" moment, and it's nice at Wine and Cheese or something else where you know people. "Oh! I see my boss and I needed to ask him something while he has a moment - it's been great talking with you!"

If you are at a poster session or other event with material, you can always use those people as an escape. "Thanks for the conversation - I really want to get a chance to check out the posters before I have to leave. Here's my card - I'd love to hear more about how [research project] turns out!"

If you are trying to leave, you can always check your phone or watch and say "I promised my colleague I would meet her at [time close to now] and I should go - it was nice to chat and I look forward to reading that book when it comes out!"

Now that you've done that, I want to practice. Remember those listening skills I mentioned? Let's put them into place. I want you to cross the room and meet someone sitting opposite you. Pretend that you don't know them. People on the right side of the room, approach people on the left as though you have seen them around the campus but don't know who they are. Try to actually pick someone you don't know very well if possible!

I have an approaching template for you to try on the next slide, but feel free to try to mix it up if you'd like.

Then the approacher, use your listening skills to pick out things to ask more about. Try to get to the question "How did you get into that field?" in a natural way. See if you can use some of the other questions. Try to ask at least three questions, and then close the conversation in a natural-sounding way using one of the techniques here. I'll call out after 2 minutes when to start closing the conversation.

For folks on Skype, there seem to be (#) of you, so please pair off and IM each other to practice your conversations, though in text!

After your conversation, take a moment to write down a few notes on your sheet about what worked and what didn't, maybe revise your plan. Don't be afraid to tell each other "I really liked this" or "Maybe try this next time". Constructive feedback only!

Then flip roles! This way, in pairs you can both practice your listening skills as well as practicing your prepared response.

Here's the opening template to try.

So how did that feel? Did something work well? Did something not work? Any revisions?

To close, let's talk about maintenance of your network. You've been to an event and gotten a ton of business cards. Now what?
Here are some steps to take:

->write on the back of those business cards IMMEDIATELY who that person was and what you talked about, especially if it was particularly interesting (but even if it wasn't). Examples include, "Does research on instructional design, recommended [book title]." or "Mentioned interesting economics project on decision making in video games."
->Add them on LinkedIn, but only if you have a fleshed-out profile.
->A day or two later, or when the conference is over, take a few minutes and e-mail the people you met. You can follow this kind of template.
Dear __, It was wonderful to meet you at [name of event]. I enjoyed our conversation about [interesting economics project] and I would really appreciate it if you could send me a link to your paper on the topic. If you ever need anything that I can provide, perhaps [thing you do, e.g. copyright consultation or advice about our Open Access author fee fund], please do not hesitate to get in touch. I would love to hear from you.
Best,
[your name]

Here is a template for your follow-up e-mail.


Periodically - I do this once per quarter, usually - I check the LinkedIn accounts of the people I know to see if they've gotten a new job, published something, or have some other update. I've been known to send messages like, "Dear __, I am glad I met you in the lunch line at SPARC, because otherwise I might not have found that paper you wrote on XYZ. Congratulations on a well-written and helpful publication - I will definitely refer to this when I'm working on XYZ at my library!"
If you use Twitter or other social media, this is another great thing to do. If I find an interesting article that reminds me of someone or something they've done that is really helpful, I'll tag them in a post. I just did this recently -

This makes the people in your network feel connected and appreciated, and perhaps they will think of YOU in the future.

So, to sum up, here are some things to remember about networking.

Be present - try to bring yourself into the moment to get the most out of the experience.

Listen for openings to ask questions when talking to others.

Offer your own openings when you are talking - include small interesting details that others can ask about.

Craft authentic, quick responses to common questions to help you during those conversations - you don't have to think so much!

Then, keep in touch! Networking is about building a community surrounding you, not a one-time-only event.

Thank you so much for coming!