In July I wrote on this blog about some of the things you need to think about before you go to a networking meeting. You could just turn up, but if you spend some time preparing and planning you?ll get so much more from your investment of time and money. Click here to read that blog.

Do your research. If you?re going to a meeting to talk to someone in particular, finding out about their business and the issues they?re facing will make it even easier for you to talk to them. Knowing something about their business and their industry will really show them that you?re interested in them. It also gives you a good starting point for a conversation.

?What do you do?? Do you have an answer ready for this question? You need to, because someone will ask you! If you have an answer prepared that you?ve practiced so it sounds natural, you?ll make a much better impression and get your message across clearly. The trick here is not saying too much, but to leave people wanting to know more and ask you questions. If you?re a marketing consultant, your answer could be, ?I help people to get off the feast and famine rollercoaster.? You then need to stop and wait for someone else to say something. At first it can be quite difficult to just say your one line and then shut up, as we all like talking. Stopping after a single line does not feel natural, so you need to keep practicing it, until you feel comfortable doing it. Your one liner needs to leave people wanting to know more, so be creative. Just saying, ?I?m a marketing consultant? is not going to stir anyone?s curiosity. (It is also the answer to ?what are you? rather than ?what do you do??)

Plan your questions. You can use questions to find out whether or not the person you?re talking to is a prospect. By carefully steering the conversation, you can gather some useful information, showing your interest in the other person, their business and the issues they experience. Plan a number of questions that you can ask people you meet ? other than just ?So what do you do??

One of the questions we ask every month at our Networking Lunch in Oxford is ?Who do you want to meet?? If you?re looking to meet a particular person or type of business, let us know who they are and we?ll see if we can persuade them to come to lunch so that you can meet them!