How to Work a Room | Dr. Ivan Misner®

I’ve mentioned my good friend Susan RoAne’s networking books in a few of my previous blogs because her content is not only invaluably effective and simple to implement, it’s also a real treat to study because she’s hilariously witty and it shows in her work.

If you haven’t yet checked out any of Susan’s networking content, now is the perfect time to start. Susan’s bestselling book How To Work A Room has just turned 21, and the information it offers is timeless. In fact, it’s actually even more important now than ever.

In fact, Susan began designing networking workshops in the early ’80s when, due to the down economy, she was one of 1,200 San Francisco teachers who were laid off. Her material is specifically relevant to those who want to generate business through networking despite economic downturns, and I don’t know anybody who couldn’t benefit from that information currently. Through her workshops, Susan ended up not only helping her peers get back on their feet financially, she also ended up writing her first book based on her most popular workshop.

Now her first book, How To Work A Room, has been in bookstores for more than two decades, has sold over a million copies worldwide and is now in its third edition. Susan is constantly asked to give her keynote presentation based on How To Work A Room at various meetings, conferences and conventions across the globe. If you ever have the chance to attend an event where Susan is speaking, take it! Don’t take my word for it though: Grab a copy of How To Work A Room and, after you read it, I’m willing to bet you wouldn’t have to think twice about going to any event where Susan is scheduled to speak. 😉

Click here to go to the How To Work A Room Twenty-One and Timeless page where you can find out more about Susan, the book and about how to purchase the book online.

If you’re familiar with Susan’s networking material already, I’d love to be able to pass your comments along to her about how she’s helped you become a better networker, so feel free to post your comments here!

My good friend Susan RoAne recently joined me as a fellow member of the iLearningGlobal.tv faculty and, as I was talking to her about the content she plans to contribute to the iLearningGlobal.tv website, I was suddenly struck with the memory of a great section from her book, How to Work a Room, which talks about casual conversation when networking.

If you have a chance to read the book, I highly recommend it because there are tons of great networking tips throughout the entire book. Not only will you get a great education on networking, you’ll be laughing from beginning to end. That’s one thing anyone who has met Susan knows about her–she’s hilarious!

However, since my blog isn’t supposed to be about my friend Susan’s witty sense of humor (Maybe I’ll start a blog devoted to that later . . . kidding, Susan! :)) and it IS supposed to be about helping you become a better networker, I’ll go ahead and let the excerpt from How to Work a Room which I’ve been alluding to tell you about the five laws and five flaws of conversation:

Five Fundamental Laws of Casual Conversation
Be a conversational chameleon. Adapt conversation to the individual by age, interest, profession.
Be a name dropper. Always mention the names of people or places you could have in common.
Borrow other people’s lives. Share the stories, comments and quips of your friends who have kids, have websites, are tai kwon do students, are Xtreme athletes, have opera tickets–even if you don’t.
Be a two-timer. Give people a second chance.
Be nice to everyone. Don’t judge tomorrow’s book by today’s cover.
Fatal Flaws of Casual Conversation
Being unprepared by not reading papers, trade journals and information sources
Controlling conversations by asking a barrage of questions, no matter how open-ended, or telling a nonstop series of jokes
Complaining (kvetching); bragging
One-upping/competing, interrupting, not listening, slinging put-downs
Offering unsolicited feedback