Networking is by far the best vehicle for building businesses, careers, and your circle of influence. It is through networking that we find advice on personal and business challenges, learn of job opportunities, and develop new business. Yet to many, the social aspects of networking events are far outside their comfort zone. Whether it be shyness, introversion, or a lack of confidence in what to say, many at a networking event will gravitate to people they know and loss the opportunity to meet new people.If you are among these people, it is probably safe to say that your shyness or introversion has helped you build tremendous listening skills. This listening strength is a great weapon for you during networking events. The main problem you are probably having is that you are so focused on your discomfort with talking to strangers that you forget how great it is to be in a conversation with you.

That's right! Great listeners are fun to converse with because they allow the other person to do the talking. People love to talk about themselves.

With the other person talking, they are typically revealing things about themselves and getting you to the point where you are no longer strangers and your comfort level with them is the same as your comfort level with your best friends.

How do you get them talking to you when your comfort zone stifles your vocal cords?

The best way is to expand your comfort zone just long enough to deliver short, open-ended question.

An open-ended question, one that cannot be answered with a number of the words "yes" and "no".

They force the other to talk while you listen. Here are some examples:

= What kind of work do you do?
= How did you get into that field?
= What do you like most about it?
= What do you find most challenging?
= If you had a magic wand, what one thing at work or home would you change?

These questions will get you in a conversation where you will be able to do what you do best - listen. As they open up they are very likely to touch on something that you like to talk about. When that happens, talking will be easier for you. Until this happens, a gentle nod or "oh", will make you a great conversationalist in their eyes and they will want to be around you.

Eventually the conversation will get back to you, but do not dwell on that. By the time it happens your comfort level will have risen to the point you will be okay with it.

This article cannot end until the issue of stretching your comfort zone for that initial question is even realistic. It is not easy to stretch one's self outside of the comfort zone. In fact, it is extremely difficult. The problem is that when we think of stepping out, we are opening ourselves to potentially endless stress. However we can all step out for short periods of time. Think of a burning building. We would not think of casually walking around in a burning building - even if we had full firefighting gear. The most experienced firefighter struggles with that fear each time they must fight a fire internal to a home or office.

Yet they do it.

Why?

Because they know they can muster the adrenalin to do it. Now consider yourself. What if it were house and the Fire Department had not arrived? Would you be able to go into the inferno for a leisure stroll? Of course not - you would not even try. Now, what if a loved one was still inside? I venture to say you would not even think about your comfort zone, you would run inside. When you are at a networking event you CAN expand your comfort zone for very brief periods of time if your focus is on the briefness of the expansion and the rewards from venturing beyond its confines.

Are you frustrated by your networking experiences? MaxImpact's Catapult program is a powerful coaching program that will expand your horizons and connect you to your dreams. When you reach the point that you are willing to invest in your dreams, contact MaxImpact at 248-802-6138 or via email to info@getmaximpact.com. Remember, success is available to anyone - they just need to know how to tap into their potential.