Better Small Talk and Effective Networking

Aims

A winning, effective presence and knowing how to associate and network with people authentically are key factors for professional success. Face-to-face interaction is a real opportunity to stand out, make a difference and to be remembered. Therefore, it is more critical than ever to be able to connect charismatically, interact skillfully and to be aware of your impact on others.

You will learn how to work the room, have presence and that Small Talk can be your door opener. You’ll get lots of tips for good conversations that do more than just scratch the surface and don’t immediately dig so deep that it could become too close, confrontational, or uncomfortable.

You will know how to build your network, navigate it, and grow social capital.

Content

How to be a good networker
• How to get in touch and connect to others, tips for interaction and how to avoid typical mistakes
• How to build relationships
• What to do with new contacts after an event or conference

How to connect instantly
• The three steps of building rapport
• Recognizing who you are talking to

Your presence
• How you speak about yourself
• How to be remembered
• Body language
• Listening skills

How to have great conversations
• How to prepare
• How to determine what you can, want, should talk about and what you’d rather leave alone
• Being interested
• Remembering names
• Listening skills
• How to deal with over talkative people and awkward silences
• Ending the conversation and moving on

Methods

Input presentations
Individual work
Peer exchange
Practical exercise

Target Group

All Doctoral Candidates & Postdocs

About the Trainer

Catherine Tenger, author and soft skills trainer CLT Training

Workload

Course attendance: 8h

Feature

Once registration is open, applications will be collected for 24 hours and course places allocated by lot. All registrations received after the initial 24h period will be put on a waiting list and assigned on a first come, first served basis.

Course places/places on the waiting list will be confirmed by e-mail. Course registrations can only be canceled before the registration period ends (send an e-mail to grace@unibas.ch). Full course attendance is mandatory. Participants who fail to attend a course without prior notification or withdraw after the registration deadline are subject to a fee of CHF 30. In addition, participants who cancel their course registration at a later point in time, are absent without an excuse or do not attend the entire course will, for reasons of fairness, not be considered for course registration in the following semester and will be removed from other courses offered in the same semester. Please find the detailed regulations on the Transferable Skills Homepage.