Haha, hardly succinct, I imagine. The experiences don't look so terrifying, in hindsight, but they felt that way at the time. I would avoid picking up the phon

Haha, hardly succinct, I imagine. The experiences don't look so terrifying, in hindsight, but they felt that way at the time. I would avoid picking up the phone at all costs, and at networking events I would grab coffee and then hide behind my laptop. It wasn't until I started putting myself in an actor's frame of mind that I could get comfortable with it. I should emphasize that I was an actor in college. Specifically, I did improv comedy. So networking should have been easy, but I just psyched myself out or didn't engage when I had the opportunity. I got over it with methods and practice. I kid you not, I made a script: "Hi, my name is Sean and I'm a business analyst. What line of work are you in and what brings you to this conference?" Unsurprisingly, that worked really well. I also reverse engineered things that other people did when talking to me. An appropriately timed joke is a great way to break into a conversation, or a question about one of the panel discussions. Simply asking, "What did you think about X, Y, and Z," can open the door for someone to comfortably network. I found that exchanging business cards was really easy after that, and most people would respond to a follow up email if asked to elaborate or share sources. Another trick is to find opportunities to introduce people to one another. Learn what people are hoping to get out of the conference, and if you've spoken to someone with a similar interest or a need, connect those people. That tends to be a great way to ensure they will respond to your follow up. Also, sharing information. This might not be helpful to everyone, but at the time I was doing this work, Turkey seemed esoteric to a number of the foreigners I met, while I've been here for seven years (and thus, I don't really see it as exotic anymore). I would ask comparative questions about a person's sector and how it works back home, and then by making observations about how things work here, I earned a lot of unexpected credibility. At that point, it was much easier to relax and break character at events, and a reply to an email was almost guaranteed. I should note, however, that I never had to sell anything. That is something I wouldn't know how to begin to comment on.