The Business Development Team at Damar moved their own training onto Zoom for a session with Will Kintish last week on online networking.
“From Working the Room to Working the Zoom”, has been specifically designed to help people continue to network effectively using purely digital methods.
“From Working the Room to Working the Zoom” has been specifically designed to help people continue to network effectively using purely digital methods.
Will has helped thousands of people across the globe develop their networking skills over the last 20 years. He has been awarded the Professional Speaking Award of Excellence, the highest accolade in the speaking profession and is the author of the best-selling book “Business Networking -The Survival Guide”. Will said:
“There is a groundswell of opinion that the business community is embracing online communication because it has to. But what happens when we can return to coffee shops for 1-2-1s, conferences and networking events? My prediction is for years to come and maybe forever, both forms of networking will become the norm. One major benefit will be the time and cost savings. We used to ‘work the room’. Now, we have to ‘work the Zoom’.
“In our new world where we can’t shake hands, ‘work the room’ or easily read the other person’s body language, how can we ensure all the time we spend, on Zoom and other virtual communication channels, will be of any value? There is nothing to beat physical networking but when we plan a strategy and take regular effective action, I believe we can get close to the way we used to be able to network.”
The session, which lasted one hour, covered:
- Creating the right impressions through the camera
- “How to work a Zoom!” (or similar video conferencing programmes)
- Building relationships through rapport and reliability
- Conversations – Breaking the ice; Small talk; business questions
- How to follow up in a professional manner
Katrina Shawcross, Business Development Manager at Damar Training, said:
Will has a breadth of knowledge and experience and delivered an excellent course. The online session was very interactive, with lots of opportunities for questions from the team. Everyone has taken away some really valuable hints and tips. Personally, I felt the best practice for conducting Zooms and networking through LinkedIn was really useful.”