Ever experienced this horrific thing?
You’re at a networking event, talking to some random stranger. It’s going ok, but you feel the conversation’s over now. And so do they.
But neither of you knows how to stop it!
So you keep on talking for ages – finally ending with a sheepish “well, don’t let me keep you” (or one that I recently heard “I need to go to the toilet now”).
Here’s a better, polite-r way to end a conversation. Simply say:
- Who are you hoping to meet tonight? (Let’s say they reply “executives in banks”)
- Ok. If I bump into any, would you like me to send them your way? (They’ll always say yes!)
- Will do. I’ve enjoyed our conversation
They’ll say they enjoyed it too (note the past tense ‘enjoyed’ shows you’re both agreeing the conversation’s over).
And now they want you to go… because you’re looking for banking executives for them.So it’s polite, respectful… And you don’t need to make excuses about needing the toilet.
Action Point
Next time you’re networking, use this get-out sentence, or something similar. If you don’t, you might be there for hours. And, for more tips on how to master this, and other critical techniques, there are hundreds more here: www.andyboundsonline.com.