How I use 'networking' to my advantage.
Last weekend I attended the Australasian Society of Lifestyle Medicines' annual national conference, in sunny Cairns, Australia.
I was fortunate enough to attend the conference on a student scholarship for my systematic review of reviews on CBD interventions within autistic population. I presented an academic poster that visually displayed and outlined the background, aims, methods and results of my research review.
This was my first national conference and I learnt a lot from the oral abstract presentations and academic posters. However, my main take away from my experience was the ability to network. Yes, you may say! thats the point! Conference are for networking . . . . .
No. I am talking about strategic networking and if there is one thing I learnt from my time in tourism marketing, it's how to strategically network.
Network with intention, having a purpose for making the connection is key here!
Ask yourself how the connection could benefit you
Ask yourself how you could benefit the connection
Pitch with purpose
Follow up with actions
e.g. I watched a presentation this past weekend looking at a bio-psychosocial screening tool used in clinical general practice for intervention prevention.
How did this potential connection benefit me? I wanted to adapt the screening tool for research purposes.
How can I benefit the potential connection? I want to work with the connection to further adapt, implement and publish the screening tool for research.
I pitched with purpose! I introduced myself, my research and affiliations (elevator pitch) and specifically how I wanted to adapt the screening tool for my research - I kept it short and was offered a business card from the connection instantly afterwards.
I followed up with actions via email, I re-introduced myself, where we met, the reason for reaching out and how I intend to action my original pitch.
Long story short . . . . . a new project is in the pipeline and it took me less than 5 minutes in total to make the connection.
Save yourself and your potential connections the small talk by setting intentions for your networking and walk away with opportunities, NOT just linked-in connections.
StudywithMaddi x















