Connecting is not Enough - '...and Death Came Third!' special

Welcome to 'Connecting is not Enough'

Andy Lop

This week sees the publication of the second edition of '...and Death Came Third! The Definitive Guide to Networking and Speaking in Public'.

The title of the book refers to a 1984 New York Times Survey where people were asked what most frightened them. Death came third! The top two fears were walking into a room full of strangers and speaking in public and in the book Peter Roper and I look at how to become more confident in both disciplines.

In the first section I offer three tips, tools and techniques to help you network more effectively, before Peter then explores the approach that will help you present with confidence, whether 1-2-1 or to a large group.

In this issue of 'Connecting is not Enough' I've changed the format slightly. In place of the usual three tips, I have included a short extract from each section of the book to give you a flavour of what '...and Death Came Third!' has to offer.

Apologies if you tried to book into our launch event on Monday night and couldn't get a ticket. Almost 100 places were filled within minutes of the last newsletter being sent out and we have a waiting list in place. We have written to attendees this week asking them to cancel their place if they can't make it, so please click here if you'd like to check and see if there are spaces now free.

You can buy your copy of '...and Death Came Third!' from Amazon here.

If you're a fan of the book, please help us to spread the word and send the link through to your friends and colleagues. Thanks for your support.

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Competition corner

The launch party for '...and Death Came Third!' takes place in the wonderful surrounds of Eight Club Bank. To celebrate the event, this issue's competition prize is a dinner for two in May in the fantastic restaurant at their sister club, Eight Club Moorgate, with a glass of Champagne for each diner on arrival.

For a chance of winning, please email claire@lopata.co.uk with your contact details or send a tweet, including #LopataComps in your tweet, by midday on Monday 16th May.

Please note the shorter deadline than usual. We will draw the winner during the launch party on Monday evening.

Thank you if you entered our competition last month to win a signed copy of Ramm in Iran II, the marketing DVD from my friend Geoff Ramm. I asked Geoff to select the winners, check the picture below to see if you've won:

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If you have any questions you'd like me to address either in this newsletter or on my blog, please either tweet me, post them onto our Facebook or LinkedIn pages or email them to me.

I always try to address as many as possible.

Happy Networking!

Andy

If you like what you read, please feel free to forward it and invite others to subscribe.

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If you have received this in error and don't want to receive future editions, please use the unsubscribe link at the foot of the email and accept my apologies.

You Don't Know Who They Know by Andy Lopata

Extract from '...and Death Came Third!'

When we go along to networking events most of us look at who is present and ask ourselves who we need to speak to, who our potential customers are and who we consider to be a waste of time. This approach can severely hamper our prospects as we may write off people who can prove to be the perfect introducers for us or spend too long trying to sell to someone who may never want to buy.

The people who you meet at networking events have the ability to connect you to many types of people, from housewives and school teachers, through engineers and nuclear scientists to the Chief Executive Officers of global corporations.

When you first meet someone you can have no way of knowing how they may be able to help you, or to whom they may be able to connect you. You will not know when they may be the key contact you need or what they could do for you in future.

It may be that there is no clear connection between the two of you, yet they could be the ideal person to refer to someone else in your network or you may know the perfect person to help them.

A name badge or a business card is not going to tell you this. It takes time to speak to people, to ask them questions and get to know them before it becomes clear how they fit into your network.

Speak for your Audience by Peter Roper

Extract from '...and Death Came Third!'

To ensure you are in the moment you must be conscious not only of your own presentation, but of the audience and their expectations.

To really be in the moment when you arrive at the place where you will be speaking, you must have done some preparation, and that includes knowing your audience. Ask yourself:

� Who are they?

� What do they already know?

� What are their expectations?

� Who have they heard before?

� Did they like them?

All you have to do is to put yourself in their shoes. If you don't know your audience you can miss the mark by a mile. As soon as you know you have a presentation to do, find out who the audience will be and do some research.

Sometimes it might be as simple as ringing someone up and asking them for a brief. This is certainly true if you're doing a client presentation. There are things that they want to know - never assume you know what these are, it's safer and easier to ask.

Many people make the mistake of thinking that, if they ask, the client will 'mark them down' for not knowing what they should be doing. I believe that the opposite is true. If there is no clear brief (and sometimes, even if there is) it often wins you lots of 'brownie points' if you take the time to call the client. You don't have to speak to the head honcho, but find someone who you can chat to about what they are trying to achieve, what they've done in the past that they've felt worked, what has changed, what they didn't like - and so on.

How many of your competitors will have bothered? How many of them will be as close to the target as you are? Plus you have an insight into your audience that will make your presentation right on target.

'...and Death Came Third!'

Video Tip

In this video, recorded with my friends at Sage UK, I explain a little bit more about the background to the first edition of '...and Death Came Third!' and why the book is such a useful tool.