Picture this: There you are at yet another networking event, shoes shined and a smile pasted on your mouth, business cards in your sweaty hands, and then it happens.
Somebody notices you, seems to think you look worth talking to, and approaches you. Your heart starts to pound as you mentally begin preparing yourself for a conversation, when the person (quite innocently and in a friendly way) asks you what you do.
You know there's a right answer, but unfortunately, off the top of your head, you can't quite spit it out. So you mumble, or stutter, or say something silly, or just stare back at the person, or worse, you say, "It's hard to explain."
What was once a flicker of interest in the other person's eyes is now gone--another opportunity lost. As you stand there with a cold cup of lousy coffee in one hand and soggy business cards in the other, you ask yourself what went wrong, and how fast can you leave without being too obvious.
Or maybe this has happened to you: You're at a meeting, everyone is briefly introducing themselves with name, business, and brief message. You know you should be able to do this, name, business, message, how hard could it be? But you lose confidence at the last minute, and start babbling, or worse, you say so little that people don't even remember you were there. Ugh!
Networking in the professional arena shouldn't be this nerve-wracking, but for many of us, it is.
Is it hard for you to explain exactly what you do and why someone should talk to you about your business (or even get to the point where you're talking about hiring you)? Do you ever wonder if maybe you're not cut out to be self-employed because you just can't seem to find the words to explain what you do in a way that works for you? This class is for you!