{"id":2357,"date":"2017-09-22T10:39:15","date_gmt":"2017-09-22T15:39:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ashleytauriac.com\/blog\/?p=2357"},"modified":"2017-09-22T10:39:15","modified_gmt":"2017-09-22T15:39:15","slug":"top-reasons-overcoming-networking-is-terrifying","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ashleytauriac.com\/blog\/top-reasons-overcoming-networking-is-terrifying\/","title":{"rendered":"Top reasons overcoming networking is terrifying"},"content":{"rendered":"

I signed up for a conference several months ago, hoping to make some connections with other people who cared about reaching young professionals. But I left the conference frustrated, as everyone else was there in a group or with their friends, had no desire to network, and no one I met was not interested in my field at all. I had gone there to network, prayed specifically to get contacts, and still left with nothing.<\/p>\n

Imagine my surprise then, when on a whim I signed up for a writing conference last weekend called Tribe Conference<\/a>, and a main focus of the talks was networking! The speakers made it so easy practically and created an atmosphere where the expectation was to meet people you didn\u2019t know. It got me thinking that this was a topic we used to discuss in my bible study group for young professionals, but I had never actually learned it well- why networking is so terrifying and how to overcome it.<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

1. Fear of the Other.<\/span><\/strong><\/span> It doesn\u2019t occur to me most of the time that while I\u2019m nervous about talking to this person, they are likely nervous as well. Obviously, there are some \u201cpeople people\u201d (or some other more literal term) out there who just love to talk and gab, but especially when it matters, a little insecurity creeps in for most of us.<\/p>\n

And how do you conquer this fear?<\/span><\/strong> One of the ladies I met at the conference pointed out that addressing it takes you a long way. Before going into the room, I literally tell myself, \u201cI am going to go talk to this group of people and it is going to go well. We are going to enjoy each other\u2019s company even if we\u2019re nervous. It\u2019s going to be fine.” And it will be. Sometimes awkward helps you laugh and connect even better- don’t worry about it so much.<\/p>\n

2. How do you sell yourself?<\/strong> <\/span>I get in trouble all the time for not conveying well who I actually am and what\u2019s important to me. One conference attender found me on the last morning and blurted out, \u201cYou\u2019re a doctor?!\u201d Oh, sorry, I may have forgotten to mention that! It doesn\u2019t always occur to me that this is a striking and memorable piece of information for people- it\u2019s just regular life to me now. But I love the concept that what\u2019s regular and common to you is new information to others. How can you learn from each other if you don\u2019t tell them the truth?<\/p>\n