You have heard the term, "In business, it's whom you know, not what you know." This is not entirely, but quite true. Certainly once you land on a job opportunity through "whom you know", you still have to deliver to keep that job. In business, networking is crucial. When you network, you have only one chance to make that first impression for the other party to be interested in keeping contact with you. So, you must absolutely sell yourself in that one chance you have. So, it absolutely pays to have a short speed ready for you to be able to use when that "chance meeting" presents itself.
Instructions: (1) Create a 1 minute speech about yourself. In reality, you may need several versions of this to have in your back pocket to use it for multiple occasions, e.g. job opportunity, non-work related opportunity, personal setting, family setting, etc. This is NOT a self-sell during an interview. Rather, this is any situation you may encounter that could eventually lead to a possible opportunity. For example, I started talking to a person next to me on the plane and learned that he is an engineer for windmill renewable energy. I ended up getting involved seeking a few million dollar investment capital for him. Another example is while I was walking my dog, I met a person involved in international business and we almost struck a deal selling container loads of copper every month for a year. The point of the assignment is, when you happen to strike a conversation with a person and you find that there is something valuable in the conversation, you want to seize the opportunity to lead that conversation to a networking asset. That person may not be in a position to offer you a job immediately, but if that person is impressed with you, s/he may remember you to pass your name along to someone who can actually give you that job. BUT NOTHING WILL happen if you cannot impress that person in the very first minute. If you cannot offer them anything interesting, they will walk away or tune you out. So be ready! (2) Include in the speech: (a) 2 pieces of information about your history - educational background, work experiences, etc. (b) what you are looking for in terms of job opportunity, career path, academic path, life goal, etc. (c) 2 questions you want to ask to the person you are talking to that may give you advice, direction, insights, etc. Don't make the question too specific to your industry (e.g. Don't ask, "what accounting courses should I take", since your networking may not be with a person who is knowledgeable about the course offerings of a college nor about human resources requirements on qualifications of hiring). Instead, tap into their insights and their experiences that could lead you to the next opportunity in life.