How To “Work” The Hybrid Room® for Career Success
Virtual happy hours, virtual networking groups, and virtual meetups are happening for everyone. And while these virtual events are different than in-person, they still hold value for you and your career!
Our CEO and Founder, Jessica Chen, recently hosted a Soulcast Media | LIVE event on LinkedIn where she interviewed keynote speaker and bestselling author, Susan RoAne.
They shared key tips and personal experiences how to navigate virtual networking. This Soulcast Media | LIVE event is brought to you by our amazing sponsors at NeedThat™
NeedThat™ is a modern independent publishing company that wants to cut through the noise of everyday consumerism.
The best products are the ones that are referred to us by our friends and family, people who we can trust. NeedThat is connecting our readers to make smarter and informed purchasing decisions.
Learning how to engage in the virtual business world is key to career success.
1. Set Yourself Up For Success
The new way of networking is often virtual. Because the future of work is hybrid, being confident while networking virtually is key for career success.
During the Soulcast Media | LIVE a question came in from the audience – How do people make themselves feel more comfortable as they enter into a virtual networking event.
- Prepare – The more prepared you are for your event, the more relaxed and comfortable you will feel.
- Expectations – Find out the expectations of the event, this can include the wardrobe, if there are breakout rooms, if you will be expected to speak to everyone at a certain time and any other expectations you need to be apprised of.
- Keep Yourself updated – Make sure you are keeping yourself updated with current affairs. Now, this doesn’t mean you have to be able to give a full dissertation on every global event. However, you should keep yourself informed of what is generally going on. There are a lot of websites that will happily skim the news for you.
- Take a Deep breath – Relax yourself before you enter the call. Remember to be your authentic self and be confident in who you are and what you bring to the event.
Remember, being comfortable virtually networking is so important. The more you can prepare the less anxiety you will feel as you enter the room.
2. Be Your Authentic Self
It’s important to be your authentic self. During the Soulcast Media | LIVE, Susan talked about the importance of being yourself when speaking to others. This means not being too serious or trying too hard to be “professional”.
Yes, when you are in a meeting or you are in an interview you should be appropriately professional. But when you are networking or meeting new people, you don’t have to pretend you are all business all the time. This puts up walls and makes it a lot harder for people to get to know you.
Own who you are. Remember you are talented, you have skills, you have interests, and everyone has something to talk about.
People connect with who you are.
During the Soulcast Media | LIVE, Jessica talked about how when she was first starting in her career she tried really hard to be very “professional” but she didn’t let her personality shine through. And your personality is what draws others to you.
When you bring who you are to what you do people will be interested to learn more. People want to know who you are – so tell them!
- Interests – Your interests are part of who you are. Maybe you volunteer at an animal shelter or you grow a garden. Talk about these things.
- Past Jobs – Everyone has had a job in the past that could fill a book with stories. Maybe you started out in the working world as a fast food cashier and have seen it all. Or maybe you were a clown for a corporate party company. These stories are relatable and entertaining to hear!
- Your Roots – Did you grow up in a small town? Or maybe you were one of ten children. Your roots define you and also are a part of who you are. They make you unique.
When you authentically engage and really get to know other people, you are setting yourself up for career success. People will remember you! Sometimes, knowing what to say can be a challenge.
3. Savvy Networking
Susan wrote the book on how to be a savvy networker. And all of her principles apply to a virtual setting.
During the Soulcast Media | LIVE, Susan explained that a savvy networker always does these 3 things:
- Always Acknowledge – This means thanking someone or letting them know you know what they’ve done. Maybe they gave you a lead for a new job or a new client. Let them know that you appreciate it!
- Stay In Touch – It’s important to stay in touch when you need nothing. You simply are truly reaching out to say hello, how are you? In this way, you are letting people know that you are interested and thinking about them.
- Follow-Up – It’s important to recognize the people who have career success are not just the people who have visibility, but the people who initiate. Don’t wait for someone to say, let’s have a call. Pro tip – when you set up an invitation to meet, give two possible times. This shows you are serious about getting together and have already carved out time in your schedule to do it.
During the Souclast Mediat | LIVE, Jessica asked Susan what she has seen work really well for people in this hybrid networking environment.
- Show Up – This means going to the networking event. Saying yes and having an open mind when you get there.
- Bring your OAR – Conversations are a trifecta – Bring your OAR wherever you go.
- Observe – Share observations that you see. This could be something in someone’s background or a fun hat that they are wearing.
- Ask Questions – Be sure that you are asking questions.
- Reveal – Talk about yourself! The key to using your OAR is to make sure you are doing a little bit of each. Too much of one is unbalanced.
- Listen – People will tell you what they want to talk about. Pay attention to what people get excited to talk about. And lean into those topics.
- What About You? – Instead of asking what do you do? Ask, what about you? Because the truth is some people may not like what they are currently doing or it triggers inferiority within them. When you ask someone, and what about you – it invites them to talk about whatever is of interest to them at that time.
Savvy networkers are confident communicators who know who they are and are excited to share about themselves with others.
Remember, as you work the hybrid room, you want to be your authentic self. These virtual events are still relevant and are important for career success.
If you would like to see the full LIVE version of Jessica and Susan’s conversation, check out Jessica’s Youtube Channel.
__
Whenever you’re ready, there are 3 ways we can help you:
- Discover your communications style so you know where to start. Over 4,000 people have found theirs here.
- Attend our monthly communication workshop to build communications confidence (new topics: public speaking, advocating for yourself, building credibility, etc) here.
- Get your brand in front of 43k+ people by sponsoring our newsletter or Soulcast Media | LIVE LinkedIn events [contact: hello@soulcastmedia.com]
