Apologies for being a little bit late getting started. This kicked me out just as, I was about to get going. So thanks everybody so much for joining today.I'm Jess Fredegan. I am a product and technology executive and also an executive coach who helps early to mid career professionals develop some of those soft skills and behavioral skills that really help you stand out and really make you look like a a leader in your organization. Alright. So when I was when I was earlier in my career, I used to go to networking events mostly because I was really interested in the talks and learning a little bit more about what was happening in the industry. And then after the talks, I would go to the networking portion of the event, grab a glass of mediocre wine, and then stand around in the corner for a couple of minutes, not talking to anybody, and really looking at everyone else having conversations and feeling really awkward and not not engaging and really missing a lot of of opportunities.

But if it sounds like you, you've come to the right place. I think if you're here, you understand that it's really important to be building a strong network throughout your career. It is often the thing that really helps accelerate careers both within organizations and as you are looking for your next opportunity. It can help you open the door to opportunities you had not even really considered. My network invited me to board opportunities to to sit on nonprofit boards, which was something I had not even considered, and definitely wouldn't have been something that I could have applied to or even have thought to apply to if that were an opportunity. And as, you know, we move into this agentic world where applying to jobs can be so much more of a shot in the dark, and you're competing not only against other really qualified candidates, but against agents and bots who aren't even real clogging up recruiters' inboxes.

It's so important to have a human connection with other people to really help you navigate your way through your professional world and really help you grow. But the good news is you don't have to love small talk with strangers to achieve that. In fact, it's not even really the most productive way to build out your network. So stop thinking about networking as networking and start thinking about it as community building. You know, networking is not really about collecting Pokemon and collecting all those LinkedIn connections. It's not really a transactional relationship where you are trying to meet somebody to get something out of them. Reframing it as building community can be really helpful for us to really get to the core of what networking is. Right?

How are we building long term lasting mutual relationships with other, members of our professional community and more of a really building that kind of professional community that we want to be a part of and not kind of the sort of faceless interaction, with other people. We don't really know. So one of the first strategies I want you to think about is starting with people you already know. We all know folks who are in the industry already with us. We've met at various events or in our own professional networking groups or even at work. So start start there. You don't even have to go out to an event for this. So thinking about how can you strengthen those relationships. So even if they aren't people that you work with every day and talk to every day, find reasons to reach out to people. You can react to their LinkedIn posts, share articles or podcasts, things that made you think of them.

In that moment, those kind of spontaneous connections to keep the conversation going with someone. One thing I really love to do is to use my reminders app or my to do list app to set reminders on a schedule to check-in with folks along that I don't talk to every day. So I have a list of key people that I really enjoy professionally and learn a lot from and have a lot of great conversations with. I set reminders to reach out to them every three to six months. And I think one of the most important things you can do in sort of building that connection and strengthening those relationship is making sure you always offer support. Being making sure you bookend every conversation with, hey. Let me know if there's anything that I can do with you or do for you.

And that really opens the door for people to come to you. And so it's not always you who is kind of building that relationship and keeping the door open as you start to build that kind of two way street and really nurture that. Secondly, you can meet new people and develop new relationships where you already are. I know there's a lot of, a lot of thought nowadays in the zeitgeist about just going to work and going home and not really interacting or talking about your personal life at all, but the company that you're working at can be the best place to develop your network. I worked at a company ten years ago where developing a network and strong relationships with your teammates was really, really critical, and really encouraged. And as a result of that, I can now, ten years later, reach out to any of them and say, hey. I got a new boss.

It looks like you worked with him in the past. What can you tell me about him? Or, hey. I'm trying to hire for this role. Do you know anything about this person who applied? Hey. I need a favor. Like, I'm looking for, someone who knows x y z. And I'll always get an answer from these people. So starting in your own professional life, learn a little bit more about your teammates. Develop that personal relationship. Find things that you connect on even if it's not everything. Find ways to keep in touch with them again. Right? You've set up recurring syncs with teams every couple of months with folks that you don't work with on a day to day, but you wanna make sure that you're kind of keeping that relationship warm and building kind of a a continued growth with that person. And then the last, you know, strategy, I think will be really critical for us as, introverts to really think about is sometimes you do have to go to events.

Right? Sometimes you do need to grow that network outside of your immediate world. So how do you think about how you interact in those situations? So, one, I think it's important to remember that everybody who's at a networking event is there to meet other people. And so a lot of folks are feeling just as awkward as you are. So one tactic that I really like to use to make introducing myself to other folks a little bit less awkward is to hang out around the snack table, hang around around the wine table, and open a conversation with some commentary on what the food is. You'll also always find someone who's kind of alone and already not in a conversation when you're at that snack table. And then you really have some superpowers in networking as an introvert that you may not have realized. One, you're a great foil with an extrovert.

If you have an opportunity to go to an event with an extrovert, they can be a great kind of opener to bridge that gap and kind of start a conversation with a stranger. And you can bring a lot of that kind of depth and thoughtfulness that extroverts don't always have to kind of really take that introductory conversation to really the next level and bring it towards that kind of deeper depth where you're making a real and potentially long lasting connection with somebody else.

And then lastly, you know, game recognize game. Right? You know who the other fellow introverts are with you. They're standing alone. They are scanning around for, the least awkward conversation to join. And so reach out to them directly or invite them into your conversation. You know, you would want the same thing for, you would want someone to do the same for you. So leaving you today with your action plan. Start small. Right? This week, reach out to one person that you've lost touch with. No agenda. Just reconnect. Hey. How are you doing? Haven't talked in a while. I've been. This month, think about 10 people in your core network that you can reach out to. So use whatever, reminders list or to do list that you like to do and keep a a scheduled touch point every three to six months for those core 10 people you wanna keep a strong relationship with.

And then on an ongoing basis, try and reach out to your extended network when you find things that remind you of them. And lastly, at your next event, find that one fellow introvert who is standing alone and invite them into a conversation because you don't need to love networking to build a community that you love. Thanks all so much. Would love to keep in touch, and thanks so much again for joining.