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- Hello, and welcome back to Communication Q&A. I'm Lauren Sergy. Today's question is coming to us from Latisha, and this is going to interest anyone who goes to networking events. Networking is a hot topic.

Latisha asks, "Dear Lauren, I work in local government, and I have to attend a lot of networking events. Here's the problem. I hate networking. I'm an introvert, and I'm not comfortable going up to random strangers and starting conversations. I've heard that I should never start a conversation by asking people what they do.

But besides telling people what I do and asking them what they do in return, I never know what to say. What are some ways I can start making conversations with strangers a bit easier? Thank you so much, Latisha."

Latisha, thank you so much for this question because I know it's one on a lot of people's minds. First of all, I completely understand where you're coming from. Even though I love speaking to big audiences-- like, the bigger, the better-- parties and networking events actually make me very, very nervous.

I'm a pretty talkative person, but it can be tough to think of interesting things to say to people that you've never really met or you don't know much about. And I can get really overwhelmed and then clam up completely in a crowd.

Fortunately, there are a few strategies that anyone, even introverts like yourself, can use to make networking a more enjoyable experience. It's true that you don't want to default about just talking about the weather or the local sports team, but the advice that you should never tell people what your job is or ask them about what they do to open a conversation is nonsense.

Part of meeting people is learning about them, and as most networking events are related to business or to work, learning about what each other's jobs are will help both you and the person you're meeting relate to one another much more quickly and much more easily. Even though we aren't defined by our jobs, we can learn a lot about one another by sharing what those jobs are, like our backgrounds, our education, our interests.

So by all means, share what it is you do and ask the other person what it is they do. Once you've broken the ice through the typical job title swap, it's time to move on to more interesting territory. But you don't have to be the most inventive conversationalist in the world in order to have a good chat with someone. There's nothing wrong with going for popular topics as a way of easing into a conversation.

So what I recommend is spend some time reading up on topics that are likely to be of interest to people who are going to be attending the event. General interest subjects and current affairs in news, in culture, and in the economy are always good bets because they affect so many people.

Just be sure to wade into these topics with an open mind. Your focus is going to be on learning about what the other person thinks, rather than defending any position that you might have.

Plus, try to learn a little bit about the current concerns that are particular to whatever industry might be represented by the people going to this event. So if I was going to a networking evening for event planners, I'd be looking up news coming from the event planning industry. If I was going to a small business networking event, I'd look up topics affecting small businesses or home-based businesses, and so on.

The goal with reading up on these topics isn't that you become an expert on them who is able to speak or expound at length on all of them, it's really to learn just enough about them so that you can ask other people what they think about these different topics and get conversations going that way.

Asking lots of questions is my number one favorite way to foster great conversations. People love being asked their opinion on different subjects, and they'll usually grab the chance to weigh in on whatever topic it is that you bring up. Once they've given you an opinion or have answered your question, you're going to know a little bit about them, and you'll have the opportunity to dig deeper.

Ask them why they came to think the way that they do or how they came to develop that view. From here, you can respond as you see fit, and the conversation will naturally start going back and forth and evolve into something really quite interesting.

Driving conversations by asking the other person lots of questions does a couple really great things. First up, it's going to make you come across as very likable because people love being able to talk about themselves. And they're going to see you as a good listener, provided that you actually pay attention to what they're saying and are going to assume that you are interested in them as well, so they, in turn, become more interested in you.

Second, asking questions helps take some of the pressure off of you to be always needing to think of something to say. And this is especially good for introverts because what you can do is ask a question and then stand back and let the other person do all the talking. When they're done talking, ask them another question, and rinse and repeat.

This is such a good strategy because, once again, it means that you don't need to be constantly putting yourself in the spotlight, but it still gives people the opportunity to get to know you and to grow to like you because you're obviously showing interest in them.

If you go into the event with the mindset of being open, curious, and interested about learning about other people's opinions, you will be able to enjoy the experience as well. Take these strategies into your next networking event, Latisha, and you will have a less stressful and much more enjoyable experience.

And if you'd like even more strategies on how to prepare for your next networking event, check out this video right here. I've posted a link to it in the description down below. It's going to give you even more techniques so that you can get your head in the game and make that networking event your best ever.

Now it's over to you. What are your favorite strategies or topics for conversation at networking events? Share your comments down below, and I'm sure there's many people out there who would love your tips and ideas for conversation starters. If this video has given you ideas for how to prepare for your next networking event, please click that like button, subscribe to my channel, and click the bell for notifications of all my upcoming videos.

And, of course, visit me at LaurenSergy.com and sign up to get more great communication, networking tips, and public speaking advice sent straight to your inbox. Thank you so much for joining me here today, and I look forward to seeing you on the next Communication Q&A.

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