The Venue is WFTV Offices, 12-13 Greek Street, London, W1D 4BB (tube:Tottenham Court Road)

WFTV Life coach Lyn Burgess’ latest workshop, ‘Networking Made Fun’, saw the WFTV office full to the brim with members all keen to change their approach to those nerve-inducing networking events we all dread so much. Attendees were talked through some useful exercises and visualisations to help create a positive frame of mind and prepare for networking events in the best possible ways. These included the creation of a ‘Limiting belief table’ to get rid of those negative beliefs we all have, and discovering how to set an ‘anchor’(a way to induce a positive feeling in your body quickly). Lyn also answered questions that were put to her which reflected the common worries we all experience in regards to networking; ‘How long should I stay in one conversation for?’, ‘How do I leave a conversation without seeming rude?’, ‘What is the most appropriate point to swap business cards with someone?’.

However, as a wise woman once said- ‘the best way of learning is by doing’, and so it was that Lyn set the challenge of a mini-networking session within the room so that everyone could put into practice the information they’d received. It helped that there was the added incentive of a prize for the woman who gathered the most pieces of information from those they spoke to in the exercise, but even the less competitive among us managed to work the room and speak to a lot of different women confidently (I personally took down a meagre 32 points, paling into insignificance when held up alongside the winning 70+!- achieved by a journalist, I might add). It was very interesting to note that for a bunch of women who confessed to “not knowing what to say” at the start of the evening – they soon got into their stride! After the exercise, there was a tangible sense of increased confidence and also relief, it seemed, at the realisation that networking isn’t as difficult (or traumatic or painful) as we all think it is going to be. Lyn also exploded the myth about “trying to sell yourself” – just get to know people on a personal level, it’s much easier to get work by being friendly rather than pushy. People work with others they ‘like, know and trust’.

Becky Brand