Cocktail Hour Dos: Conversation
You’ve donned your dress, have business cards in hand, are fashionably late and you’re prepared to mix and mingle with the other guests. Take a moment to stash your jacket, learn where the bathrooms are, and grab a drink. You are ready for this. Overall keep your topics light. Focus on the other s and use this chance to get to know these people and their interests.
Dos - Have Some Questions Ready
If small talk doesn’t come naturally to you, have some ideas that you have prepared in advance. Keep the focus on the person you are talking to and ask open-ended questions related to the reason people have gathered. For example, if this is a business mixer ask: What has been the best career move you ever made? Or What is the biggest mistake you made regarding your career?
Dos - Have A Few Topics Prepared
Be ready with a few go-to topics that are easy to talk about, tell a little something about you while asking a question about them. What bands have you listened to for more than a decade (that suggests YOU like music? What is your favorite book or movie (not both) and why (this will suggest YOU have a book or movie beloved by you)? Mention a new coffee shop/hiking trail/hobby you have recently discovered that might be near them, asking if they frequent the spot. Keep topics light, short and interesting.
Dos - Shared Moments
Talk about things in the venue but only if you can keep things positive. Compliment the art on the wall and why you like it. Talk about a park close by and what draws you to it, but then ask if your peer has been there. If not, ask if they have a favorite park.
Dos - Enjoy the Party
Compliment elements of the party including food or drink that you are enjoying. If you can stay positive, people will remember you and your complimentary energy rather than someone who is a downer.
Dos - Engage Others
When others are sharing, listen. Ask follow-up questions. If you are only thinking about what you are going to say next, you limit what you are getting out of the conversation. This could be an important contact, but only if you take it beyond superficial levels.
Dos - Be Inclusive
Work new faces into the conversation. Catch them up with a sentence or two and then add a follow-up question to the person who has the floor to get the conversation back on track.
Dos - Stay Professional
These cocktail events are a chance for you to meet with others and make connections in a less formal setting. You want to put your best foot forward and engage in positive ways with the other professionals in the room.
Attending a cocktail party can be great. Work to keep the conversational focus on others. Of course, answer questions, share a story but then turn the conversation back over to the crowd or to the individual with whom you have been talking. Remember light, funny, interesting and positive is the name of the successful cocktail conversation game.
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