How to Fail at Networking

I’ll explain how you can FAIL at networking.

But first, let’s start at the beginning to say I am not perfect at networking.
I just attended a labor and employment law conference for 3 days over the weekend.
I witnessed all of the below no-nos at the conference.

I made many networking mistakes there (luckily, not the ones below).
The mistakes we make are instrumental to our success.
The important thing is that you LEARN from your mistakes.

Now back to the facepalm moments you will want to AVOID at networking events.

1. Don’t Talk Politics.

No one goes to networking events to talk about politics.
The game of networking is to CONNECT with others.
What drives a wedge more these days than political topics?
Avoid them.
Or save them for your next Thanksgiving dinner.
Just kidding, don't.

2. Don’t Shout or Raise Your Voice at Someone.

It seems common sense.
You are at a networking event to put your best foot forward.
So it must be said that you shouldn’t EVER raise your voice at someone in business.

3. Don’t Take Things Personally.

Racist, sexist, ageist, homophobic comments…
I’ve seen it all at networking events.
These things are unacceptable, and they also should NEVER be taken personally.
Don’t let bigoted or ignorant comments ruin your path to success.
I’m not saying to ignore these comments.
I would never tell you how to react to a particular comment because context matters, and we all deal with things differently.

But know that these types of comments DON’T define you and they reflect upon the speaker of the words, NOT YOU.

💗 Drop a HEART if these networking DON’TS were helpful to you.

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