5 tips from a professional networker

Shannon Clark runs a conference on the study of networks. Here's a summary of her take on networking:

1. Networking is about giving and listening.
Spend your time when you meet people thinking about how you can help them. Listen for how you and the person you are talking with can form a connection.

2. Have a very concise, two or three at the most sentence explanation for yourself.
You have to strip away everything that is unnecessary and communicate quickly what you are working on. Without, ideally, doing so in a jargon or buzzword filled manner.

3. Parties and events are the starting point, not the end point.
Make a point of following up with people - in ways that emphasize giving not taking.

4. It is not quid-pro-quo.
By giving back, by helping others via my comments, introductions and referrals, I have gotten far more. Not via direct paybacks, but indirectly.

5. Know what to ask for, and very important, ask for it.
It is amazing how few people do and how often asking the right people for the right thing gets amazing results.