Network like a pro: networking skills for every professional

Learn how to open new conversations with new people. Talking to strangers is a skill that may not come naturally to everyone, but it can be learned or better understood. In this day and age of mobile phones and busy lives, people are less likely to talk to strangers in everyday life, so it is understandable that it's not always easy to make the switch and talk to new people on the networking floor, or start a new conversation in online networks. This lesson will show how to do it, even when you may feel uncomfortable at first.

Small Talk is an initial conversation to get a feel for the other person and see where this conversation may lead to. Small Talk may be perceived as meaningless conversation about nothing much, but there is value in it to bond with the other person and pre-select which topics might be good ones to continue on. being able to do Small Talk well helps you to get more out of a networking event and keep conversations warm for a future moment.

Once you opened a new conversation and exchanged a few words with the new people you met, it might be time for an elevator pitch to show who you are in a first introduction. This lesson will show you how to come up with a great Elevator Pitch and which elements you need to include to make yourself memorable and referrable.

In your everyday professional life, you are likely not talking to people high-up in the organization if you are not there yet yourself. Networking events provide a great opportunity to talk to influential people in a fairly casual way, learn from them and bond with them - it may come in handy in future situations. Learn how to talk with influential people to make you shine and connect with the people that can help you further.

It would be good to exchange business cards at one point in the conversation, so that you can contact each other to follow-up. Learn how to do this in a professional, comfortable way.

You have successfully approached a stranger and chatted with them for a bit, but are keen to talk to others. How do you politely end the conversation so that you can talk with more people? This lesson shows you how you can end conversations in a professional manner, so that everyone feels acknowledged, comfortable and ready to talk to someone else.

The relation with the new person you have just met is only emerging. You want to find the right balance between being not too laid-back and not too pushy to jump on new opportunities. This lesson is all about how to get this approach right.

Forgetting someone's name can feel embarrassing, after all you want to make a great first impression. In this lesson I will teach you a few techniques on how to remember names, and once applied I am sure you will remember a lot more names at the next event.

In this lesson I will show you how to take your networking skills to the next level and talk to and introduce groups of people, next to one-on-one chats. It shows leadership and being a great connector, which comes with so many advantages for you.

Now that you are able to end conversations professionally and talk to groups of people, think about how you best move around a networking floor to be known to many and open up more opportunities from networking.

Sometimes you meet someone who is much higher up the ranks than yourself. In everyday professional life, this may not happen that often, but at networking events this happens regularly - a great opportunity for you. This lesson covers on how to approach these situations best.

First impressions count. In this lecture I share a few tips on how to show the right behavior on the networking floor - they are easily overlooked, and make a true difference to how you are perceived.

This is a turning point in the course. We have covered how to open conversations, make a great first impression and end the conversation on a positive note. From here onwards we will look into how to follow-up and get out of networking what you want.

At an usual networking event, you probably collect more new contacts and business cards than you can follow-up with. Here we cover how you best go about the ones that are not of immediate value, but keep the relationship warm.

This lesson focusses on how to follow-up professionally with new contacts that have potential for your goals. Learn how to do this in a comfortable, authentic and professional way.

Thinking about your online presence, a few tips on what to look out for and give the right impression to the new people you met.

A few tips on online networking and how to follow-up with your network in a gentle way.

Get out of networking what you want and reap the benefits. After all that you have learned, networking will work for you.

Most likely you are looking to get referrals out of networking, to help you further with your goals. This lesson will help you learn how your network, and the people behind the network, can work for you.

Whilst you may not have thought of getting a mentor out of networking, a mentor can be hugely beneficial for your career. This lesson will cover why and how you can get a senior person to mentor you - for free!

Well done, you have made it to the end of the course. This is not the end, this is only the beginning. We recap what we have learned, and set out next steps for your networking endeavours.