by Susanne Aronowitz
For those of you who will be attending our upcoming Networking with Externship Supervisors reception on November 7 (or any other networking gathering, for that matter), here are some helpful tips from the Culture and Manners Institute at http://www.cultureandmanners.com on how to wrap up your conversations in a graceful and productive way:
The Etiquette Tip of the Week often covers networking, how to start a conversation and how to keep a conversation going. Someone asked the logical follow-up: "How do you end a conversation?" When your conversation has run its course, you have exchanged business cards or decided (not out loud) it is not worth exchanging business cards, how do you move on to the next person? Reach out your hand to give a parting handshake and say one of these or a combination of these:"It was a pleasure to meet you.""I enjoyed speaking with you.""Thank you for taking the time to speak with me.""Thank you for your time.""You have an impressive background and I enjoyed hearing about it.""Enjoy the rest of your evening." or "Enjoy the rest of the convention (or event name).""Thank you for your business card...may I follow up with you next week?""Good luck to you.""I wish you the best."I have said this before -- many articles on networking advice are written by people who never leave their homes. They will say, "Scan the room for the power players." I can tell you from experience, if you limit yourself in this way, you may be passing up fruitful opportunities. Never underestimate anyone at a networking event.
