Networking

Have you ever been in a situation where you have forgotten someone’s name?
Isn’t it even worse, when they have obviously remembered your name and use it several times?
You are left scrambling in your memory banks, hoping that it will suddenly come to you!  Sometimes you might even go through every letter in the alphabet, in your head – hoping against hopes that it will jump into your mind.
It can be very embarrassing, you could even find yourself turning “50 shades of red”!
A few years ago  I was visiting Kilmuckridge in Co Wexford and I met a 3 year old whom I hadn’t met since the previous year.
I was really surprised (and flattered!) when she shouted over “Hi Barbara”.
I commented to her mother that she had a child who was gifted with a fantastic memory for names, either that or I had made an amazing impression on her the previous year! Her mother burst my bubble by replying “her playschool teacher’s name is Barbara”.  Therein, lies th...

Yesterday evening I was delighted to be invited to speak at the 3Day Startup event held in The Gravity Centre in Dublin.  For more about Gravity click here.
3Day Startup is an Austin-based company whose mission is to kick-start new student-run companies and build entrepreneurial capabilities in third level students and their communities.  They have run more than 130 programs around the world and those have given rise to 79 companies. This is the first year this event has been held in Dublin.
Their schedule was action packed and my slot was short, so the topic I chose was “Tips for Communicating with Confidence”.  Over the 3 days they would be constantly communicating.  From sharing ideas with their team, right through to telephoning potential customers and delivering a pitch on day 3.
By the way, you might be wondering what the pug picture is doing in this post.  He was on one of my slides – you will find out below!
Here is a very brief summary of the tips:
Confident...

Tonight I have the pleasure of facilitating a speed networking session in the Coca Cola facility, in Drogheda, Co Louth.  The event is being hosted jointly by Drogheda and District Chamber of Commerce and Network Louth Meath Women in Business Networking group.
Just before we get into the networking I will be sharing a few tips on networking but with a specific focus on tips for speed networking.  Each person at the event will have 2 minutes to pitch their business to the person on the opposite side of the table, the roles will be reversed and after 4 minutes they move along and repeat the process with the next person.  It is a great way to meet a lot of people in a short space of time.
Here are the tips I will be sharing to help them all get the most from this invigorating way of networking.  Enjoy!
1. BUILD RELATIONSHIPS
Networking is not selling!  The likelihood of you meeting someone at a speed networking event, or any networking event, needing your offering at that specific mo...

The article below was published in The Sunday Business Post in the Small Business Section on January 19, 2014.  The article was printed as part of a special feature on women in startups.  However, the tips below can be relevant to everyone in business, male or female, startup or established.
Enjoy!
Presentation Tips for Startups
As a start up you might be looking for ways to raise awareness of you and your business that don’t cost a fortune.
One way to do this is to speak in public.  There are plenty of approaches to  this – if you are a member of an institute you might speak at one of their events or maybe even at a conference.  However, you want to make sure that you get your message across and that you are memorable – for the right reasons.
1.     Decide your key message
As you prepare your presentation it is absolutely vital that you decide on your key message or messages – try and keep the messages to a maximum of 3.  Agree the topic of your presentation with the...