Remember this song? It was one of my favorites when I was growing up. I was at party on Friday night and I was made aware of the fact that just like in marketing, your positioning is important when networking at an event. What does this all mean? Party planners always set up the room so that there are less chairs than there are people. They do this because they want people on their feet and mingling. So it would stand to reason that if you are at a networking event, you should probably be on your feet.
Think about the last party you were at. Where were you in the room? Were you standing in the center? Sitting in the corner? Sitting outside??? All of those positions influence your networking capacity when at an event. I think of it often from a directing perspective. In my directing classes we talked a great deal about power having to do with where a character is on the stage. If someone is sitting and the other person is far away, the seated person is in a position of power. Now can that power shift? Of course. But where you place people on the stage has a direct effect on who has the power in the scene.
In party situations, the party is your stage. If you stand center you show others at the party that you are open to being approached. When you sit up stage left, it communicates to others that you are not interested in being approached.
Now that's not to say that there won't be people who will approach you whether standing or sitting, but next time you're at a party pay attention to how often you're approached when standing vs. sitting and you'll see what I mean. This is also particularly effective if you are at an event where you don't know anyone. It's easy to get lost when sitting at a couch somewhere, but stand stage center and see how fast you'll find people to talk to. After all, people have to make entrances and exits right? And where do they cross to do so? That's right. Stage center.
So next time you're sitting at a networking event and wondering why you haven't met anybody yet, take a deep breath and stand up. Who knows? You could end up standing next to this guy.
Excelsior!
Think about the last party you were at. Where were you in the room? Were you standing in the center? Sitting in the corner? Sitting outside??? All of those positions influence your networking capacity when at an event. I think of it often from a directing perspective. In my directing classes we talked a great deal about power having to do with where a character is on the stage. If someone is sitting and the other person is far away, the seated person is in a position of power. Now can that power shift? Of course. But where you place people on the stage has a direct effect on who has the power in the scene.
In party situations, the party is your stage. If you stand center you show others at the party that you are open to being approached. When you sit up stage left, it communicates to others that you are not interested in being approached.
Now that's not to say that there won't be people who will approach you whether standing or sitting, but next time you're at a party pay attention to how often you're approached when standing vs. sitting and you'll see what I mean. This is also particularly effective if you are at an event where you don't know anyone. It's easy to get lost when sitting at a couch somewhere, but stand stage center and see how fast you'll find people to talk to. After all, people have to make entrances and exits right? And where do they cross to do so? That's right. Stage center.
So next time you're sitting at a networking event and wondering why you haven't met anybody yet, take a deep breath and stand up. Who knows? You could end up standing next to this guy.
Excelsior!
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