What you say after “nice to meet you”

Section 2 : You don’t need to “sell” every time

Not every room is the room to pitch and not every conversation needs to lead somewhere. You can just talk to people. When you approach every new interaction like it has to go somewhere, it adds pressure. And that pressure shows. Also, when you always sound like you’re trying to win something, people start to zone out. People can feel when they are being talked to versus talked with. And most people don’t enjoy being cornered into a pitch. Just have the conversation and let it flow. You might still end up talking about what you do, but it will come up naturally.

Some conversations are just conversations and that’s fine. You don’t always need to lead with what you do or what you’re working on. Sometimes it’s enough to talk about something interesting you read recently, something you are figuring out, or something you have been thinking about. Some of the best connections start from nothing business-related and that’s what makes them better.