Serious Soft Skills

More than four-in-five jobs come from connections, making networking a critical piece of any job search or path toward promotion. And at its core, any kind of networking calls on our soft skills.

Dr. Tobin Porterfield and Bob Graham discuss:

• Why focusing on the perfect customer during networking can ruin any event
• How every contact you make could be a vitally important one someday
• How networking differs from speed dating
• Building value through networking is the name of the game
• Some examples of good and bad networking
• How natural discussion can do more for networking than anything contrived.
• Opening doors to discovery
• The serendipity of networking
• How you can’t make a customer from networking
• The art of graceful exits from discussions and how to do it without seeming like a jerk
• The do’s and don’ts of networking
• Bob’s Three-Card Rule
• Toby’s rules for giving out business cards
• Methods to manage any followup
• The Rule of Threes

Next week

We’ll explore the soft skill of enthusiasm and how it makes a major contribution to any business.