Networking: How to become the person everyone remembers

One of the essentials of networking is that people remember you. The key to getting people to remember you is to intensify the energy that radiates from you. This energy is the power generated by your high EQ. It is what people “fall for” and remember you by. Whether they will keep in touch with you and continue their enthusiasm for your energy is a reliable signal of your capacity to be reliable, conscientious, and trustworthy.

It’s surprising how little people actually remember about others. They do not remember the e-mails they received, the participants of the meetings they attended, or the person who left a message on their answering machines. It’s not because they are senile, but because everyone is so busy and bombarded with e-mails, messages, meetings, and more.

How to be memorable

Do people find it difficult to remember and recognize you? If so, do not despair. The recipe for becoming memorable is relatively simple. Many of us can increase our rate of success in achieving our career goals through training in areas such as speech speed, voice volume, body language, authenticity and humor.

These areas are all elements that influence people’s professional opinion of you and thus your chances of increasing your dynamism and market value. Do you have a charismatic personality? If yes, how do you express it? Do you know somebody with a charismatic personality that you can study? If yes, who? What can you learn from them? Your answers may indicate what you need to work on.

Developing loyal relationships

To build up lasting relationships, you must be reliable, authentic, and likeable. To be perceived as reliable, you must mean what you say and do what you feel is right. Authenticity speaks to your principles, personal style, and professional goals. Likability is about being curious about other people and being interested in helping them achieve their goals. Be interested and interesting When you meet someone for the first time, it is very important that you spend the first couple of minutes wisely. What do you talk about? Is it something that creates trust or just small talk?

• Always strive to create a pleasant dialogue. That alone will make people remember you.

• Be sincerely interested and curious. Ask and listen.

• Find out how you can help each other—be sure to mention your own qualities in an easy and elegant way so that the person you are talking to can quickly get an idea about who you are, what you can do, and your professional goals.

Handling encounters like a professional

There are 4 necessary elements of exchanges with people in order to create and develop a strong relationship.

1.   Be personal

Give something of yourself so that you create a trusting atmosphere. You can build mutual trust in each other in five minutes if you follow these simple steps.

The 70/30 rule

The 70/30 rule simply states that 70 percent of the time that you are with another person, you can talk about professional matters such as a project, a problem, a sale, etc. In the remaining 30 percent of time, you should talk about something that is personal, but not private—something that you are pondering, considering, something that interests you, bothers you, worries you, or pleases you.

Ask the person questions about these topics. Pay attention to the short personal stories that people share with you. Give something of yourself so that you become informal and personal. Follow up on your shared information the next time you meet.

2.   Be present

Keep eye contact—focus on this conversation that you are having right now and don’t think about what you will be doing next, whether you have a new text message, or if someone has just Facebooked you. People can feel it if you are not present and it will leave a bad impression.

3.   Show respect for other people and their time

People hate people who waste their time or prevent them from doing their work. This is not the way you want to be remembered. Keep your appointments and be brief and to the point. Respect the fact that you are talking with a person who might be in a hurry because of a deadline or other pressures.

4.  Evaluate your efforts

Ask other people what you can do better if you feel that the relationship is not developing as desired. People appreciate your sincere interest.