Walking into a networking meeting full of people talking to each, and getting a conversation going is not the easiest thing to do. So here are some tips for getting started, with thanks to Mike Southon, the Beermat Entrepreneur, who shared them with us at a recent FSB event. Here are five questions you can ask your fellow networkers, to get the conversation going.

1. ?May I join you??

This is the easiest way to join a pair or group of people who are already talking. It also works really well with people who are standing alone on the edge of the room, desperately hoping that someone will come and speak to them.

2. ?Where are you from, geographically??

This is an easy question for someone else to answer ? its? a good ice breaker.

3. ?What do you do??

Hopefully they will be able to tell you what they do in a couple of minutes. If it goes on too long, or it?s not clear, move on to question 4 …

4. ?How do you do that??

If they can give you an example of how they do what they do, you?ll get a much better idea of the services or products they provide and who they work with. This will start to give you clues as to whether or not they might be interested in what you do.

5. ?Who can I introduce you to??

Networking is not just about finding new clients for your business. It?s also about introducing people to each other, so if you know someone who needs the services of the person you?re speaking to, you can introduce them. If they can give you a clear picture of their ideal clients, you can look out for them.

When you?re getting networking conversations going, use these questions to steer the conversation. You don?t have to follow them religiously, because the conversation may go off in another direction, which is fine. If you feel the conversation beginning to slow down, use one of these questions to get it going again.

Hopefully at some point in the conversation, the person you?re speaking to will ask you the same questions back, so you can tell them a bit about what you do. Then you can ask them for their card, if you want to keep in touch; and then move on to speak to someone else. Easy, isn?t it!?