Networking Unleashed: Building Profitable Connections. An Interview with Michael A Forman, Public Speaker
- mforman521
- 5 days ago
- 17 min read
📍 📍
Welcome to Networking Unleashed, building Proper Connections. I'm Michael Forman, and today is episode 100. Yes, you heard me correctly. 100 Chances to Ruin a handshake and 100 Chances to fix them Instead. So I'm flying solo today. Which means no guests to blame and all the best shortcuts to share straight with you.
Each week, I give you tactical, no fluff strategies that turn small, talk into real revenue, and this one message or these messages gets you a lunch, a single question that turns conferences into conferences, chaos into meaningful connections. If you want fewer, awkward science silences and more closed deals, you're in the right place.
So stay with me. I'll give you razor sharp actions you can use today, and a short challenge at the end. Make life worth living, make networking, less exhausting and more profitable. Now I'm gonna run you through a few things that I normally go through during a workshop, and my first question is, why? Why does everyone network?
And I firmly believe that networking is the base of all businesses. So what's your ultimate goal? Of course it's to make more money. Otherwise, why are you in business? But there's more to network networking than that. It's having a giver's game, it's having a servant's heart. It's doing good for somebody else.
And that plays more into networking than anything else. You know what? Let me tell you a story. It's a story. Two guys, Marty and Fred, and they decided to go fishing one day. So they got all their gear together and they went up the mountain and they decided they found a great lake. And they said, okay.
Marty said, you know what, Fred? You go to the north side, I'm gonna take the south side. You go do everything you do and I'll do everything that I do and we'll catch fish and we'll get together and we'll have dinner. It'll be great. Fred went on his way. Marty went on his, and at the end of the day.
Fred came back with one fish, he goes, ah, the fish really weren't biting today, but Marty had 10 fish goes well, I guess it was better on the south, on the north side than the south side. So you know what? Let's do this, Fred. Let's change sides. I'll go to the south side and you stand on the north side.
And this way we'll both have enough fish. Marty came back with 10 fish, 11 fish, and Fred had one and he said, what? What's going on? Why am I not catching the fish? So Marty said what are you doing? He said I'm doing what you're doing. I'm setting up my camp. I am putting my radio on. So I have some really cool music and I'm fishing.
And Marty said that's your problem. You're doing it wrong. And networking is the same way. If you do it wrong, then you're missing out on so much. And do you realize that most people waste 80% of their networking opportunities without even realizing it? But you know what? That's where we come in and that's where we can help you because you have to remember.
You are a problem solver. That's right. So you have to find out what the person that you're speaking to, what's their problem, because you have to have in the back of your head some sort of solution. And when you can do that, then you've made it. Let me just tell you just a few items, a few things, because when you're networking, don't just think networking as a business.
Think of networking in your everyday life. And so when you network, you go shopping for your jeans, go shopping for food, you're talking with people online, you're talking with people in the aisles. First things first. Make smile. Make it like you're a happy person. Whether you are or not doesn't make a difference, but you know what?
Because people will react to you much better when you're a happy person. And so you just, if you're in line with somebody and they're talking about it. I used to be in the mortgage industry and I would always listen. I would always listen. If people are talking about buying a house or selling a house, renting a house, I would always turn around, give my two seconds worth of information, and I turn back around.
If they were interested, they tap me on the shoulder and they say, you know what about that? So anyway, so that goes a long way with networking. But you know what? Whenever you go anywhere, you have business cards, right? Don't forget your business cards. You put them in your pocket or whatever else.
And whenever the time comes, you can always give your business card. What's more important than actually meeting the person. It's your follow up. I have a follow up strategy. I call it my secret sauce, the follow up. So I will get into that maybe, but I will get into that. So I want you to think, I want you to think about what communication is.
Communication is the number one professional skill. Communication. It's how you communicate. Just remember, people hate to be sold to, but they love to buy something, so that puts you in a quandary. How do I do this? It's very simple. When you walk up and you meet somebody, obviously. You're smiling.
Smiling. You're smiling. Extend your hand. You're looking for that just to shake your hand, say hello, how you doing? And eye contact is very important. Now I come from New York, right? Eye contact. Ooh, that's a negative, right? You're always looking down. You're always looking away. But I'm in Georgia now.
And it's always looking the person in the eye. You want to make that eye contact because what does that tell you? It tells you that you are, that you're listening to them, that you're interested in them. So you know what you. You have that eye contact, but you're always giving the utmost of respect.
And whether you are the CEO or the janitor, that's what you do. You give the respect that they deserve. So you know, what you want to do is you want to square your body up to them. You don't want to talk to somebody with their shoulders, with your shoulders. Turned. Okay. You wanna just, square up to them.
And how about a facial expression, a friendly facial expression. And put your hands in plain sight. If you're sitting on your hands, or if you're sitting, if you're standing, just you know what? And talk with your hands. You're talk because it's a natural ability. It's a natural thing. So if you talk with your hands, you're actually becoming more involved with the conversation, right?
If you're sitting that's one thing. If you're standing, you're talking with your hands, and most importantly, you want to enunciate because if the person can't hear you can't understand you. Then they're really not gonna be interested in you and not gonna be interested in what you have to offer them or sell them or anything else like that.
But if you are. Speaking with them and you have their attention, right? You want to listen and listening is a very important part. Don't just hear them. You're listening to what they are saying and you are you're active listening. You're listening for something that they're saying that you can respond with.
Don't think about the next thing that you wanna say. You're thinking about, okay, he said something about this so you repeat part of it. So I understand you're saying this. So what you're meaning to say is that right? It's very important. But that also tells them. You're listening. You're listening.
You know I use something. It's called FORM, and that's family occupation. Recreation and a certain message, and I use this every time that I speak with anybody. Have a meeting with anybody. So F is family. So you get them to talk about their family. Remember the networking mantra. Know you like you, trust you.
They'll do business with you, right? Everybody knows you. Everybody likes you. Eh? Not really. Everybody doesn't like you because that narrows the field a little bit, but trust you. That's the major factor. That's the major factor, because if they don't trust you, then they're not gonna do business with you.
So lemme get back to form. Form is family. You have them talk. Have the other person speak, talk, talk about their family, husband, wife, sister, brother, son, daughter, whatever. If they are into youth sports, that's great. If they're into music, that's great art, that's great. Talk about anything because what you're doing is you're having them talk about their family and that wall between you is going down, but you know what?
That trust factor. That's going up. So they're beginning to trust a little bit more. So you wanna talk about their occupation, which is, oh, there are recreation. What do they like to do? They like to go boating. They like to go ski. They like to paddleboard, play pickleball. I don't understand why, but they play pickleball tennis, football, baseball.
It doesn't make a difference. However, they. Do their recreation, that would be best. And you find that level, you find something that you can talk about, right? And the m is a message that you just try to get onto the same key as them. So you know what? Whenever you're meeting with somebody and you're using the form, figure out what that, what.
What they like, what, who they are. Okay. If you're sitting down with somebody in an office, you really only have about 30 seconds. You have about 30 seconds to really find out about the person. So scan the walls so they have a picture of. Some sports memorabilia. They have a picture of something, of music, something of art, find it, talk about it, ask questions.
You're trying to find that commonality, find what you have in common. And here's a little trick if you walk into an office and you see all the pictures on his desk, right on his desk. Looking in towards him, that means that he really doesn't want you to comment on his family. But if you see pictures on the back when they're facing out you, that almost gives you the right, almost depends on the person to talk about their family, right?
So it depends on everything. So you're really trying to build that type of rapport. But again, I'm gonna bring you back to the mantra. The mantra. Know you like you, trust you. If they know you, if they like you and they trust you, then they will do business with you. And remember, if you don't have that trust you, you're going, you're doing something wrong, right?
So now what I've told you basically is what? The difference. It's for extroverts, right? It's if you're an introvert, it's something completely different. Let's change this up a little bit. Let's go to a networking event at the table and you walk up to the table. I'm thinking just extroverts now you walk up to the table, what's the first thing you do?
Everybody says talk. Tell everybody what you do. Oh, that, that's 100% the wrong thing to do. What you should do really is walk up the table and not say a word, not say a word. You're listening. That's the active listening. You're listening for the conversation, and you say to yourself, is this a conversation that I want to be a part of?
Because there's a ton of conversations going on. So if it is, great, if not, if you haven't said anything yet, you politely bow out and you go to the next table. Let's say it is a conversation that you wanna be a part of. That's great. So you wait for the opportunity for you to give your 2 cents. Now remember, you are the expert in your field, the expert.
So what you say should really be worth something, okay? And all you're trying to do is get the attention of, let's say two of the people that are at that table. There's generally four or five people. Two people, and when you do, you direct your conversation towards them, and then you bring form into it.
You bring form into it, and you have the person or people talk about themselves. And then it you bring the conversation around to what they do for a living. They've already told you all about their family and things that they like to do. So they're gonna tell you about what they do for a living.
And as they're talking about what they do you're listening active listening. So you're listening to them, you respond to them. You say, so I understand that you do this. At the end, you say, you know what? I like you. I like your business and how you do it. How can I make you more successful?
How can I be a good referral source for you? That usually blows 'em away. Mike, I don't even know what you do yet, and you're saying this to me. Remember, it's a giver's game. You're looking to go in there and help everybody that you can. What goes around comes around, so they will in turn refer you, but your interest right now is to prefer the, your person, this person that you're talking to.
So you do, and so you exchange cards and you explain what you do for a living, because the only time you're going to give your business card is if they ask for it. And on the back of the card, his card, the other card, her card is you're gonna write the date, the name of the function, and something you spoke about because he.
Was it told you everything. So everything you spoke about and then you'll hold that for your follow up. Now, as a side note, like I said, I used to be in the mortgage business. I used to go to these events. I used to come home with a shoebox, filled with business cards and say, look how good I did. Did I do good?
No, I did not. So now with a three or four hour event, I. Come back with 15 or 20 business cards so I can follow up with them correctly. Now, I told you all this was all for an introvert extrovert. Now introvert is almost the same with a difference. This is where you're going to bring in a friend, your sister, your brother, whoever.
Whoever knows you well, knows what you do well, because. Let's go back to the beginning. Let's go back to the table. When you're walking up to the table, you're listening for the conversation. Is this a conversation that I wanna be a part of? Yes. It's okay. So when the conversation comes around, you are the person who you came with says, you know something?
That is a great idea. You know what Michael really knows about that. Michael, why don't you tell us about it? And that is like an introduction. So you don't feel overwhelmed and you do that so that if your partner does that enough times, you're gonna get used to it. You can get used to speaking with the person.
Now, don't become a wallflower. Don't walk into an event and immediately go to the wall and look at it, sip your drink and say, oh, there's a nice event. I'm not meeting anybody. If you see somebody that's like that, take it upon yourself, walk up to them, say, Hey, how you doing? Hey, that's a nice blazer.
Or, I like your shoes. I like your blouse. Where'd you get it from? Something, anything outside of business. That will make them under, make them more amenable to what you what you do, what you have, whatever else. But it's all for you. So remember, so now your follow up. Oh, there's a secret sauce for follow up.
And you know what? I'm gonna share it with you. I'm gonna tell you. What I use as a follow-up, and I say it's a secret sauce because it works the majority of the time. Nothing works, everything, but let's, okay. Let's say you finish the event. You go back to your house, your office, wherever the case may be.
You have 15 or 20 business cards. You're gonna write an email that night and you're gonna say, Hey, Michael. This is Michael. I met you last I met you tonight at the networking event. Had a great time. Looking forward to speaking with you soon, Michael. That's it. Nothing else, and send it off the next morning.
Here's the key. The next morning you write a handwritten thank you note. That's right, handwritten. I have about 50 of them in my briefcase. You write a handwritten. Thank you note. Hey Michael. This is Michael. I met you on such and such date, su at such and such an event. We spoke about X, Y, Z. Now remember on the back of the business card, I have all that information.
Hey Michael, this is Michael. I met you on such and such date. I met you at last night or such and such state at we at such an event. We spoke about X, Y, z. I really hope we can do business soon. Michael and put your business card in. Send it off. Now the mail's a little slow, so you have to wait three or four days because if you haven't gotten a return email yet, send em another email.
Hey Michael, this is Michael. I met you on such and such date at such as an event we spoke about X, Y, Z. Now notice I say the same thing. Every time I speak with them. Why? Because that'll bring me top of mind. That'll bring, I'll say, oh, I remember him. We spoke about this, or We spoke about that. Okay. Hey Michael, this is Michael.
I met you on such and such state. We spoke at such an event. We spoke about X, Y, Z. Hey, listen, I just noticed of next week, Tuesday and Wednesday seems to be clear. Would one of those days work to meet, work with you to meet up and have a cup of coffee. Michael, send it off. Wait two or three days later, he still hasn't returned.
Bad sign, but hey Michael, this is Michael. I met you on such and such date at such an event. We spoke about X, Y, Z. I said Tuesday and Wednesday look pretty good. Tuesday's getting kind of full house Wednesday. Michael still didn't answer you two or three days later. Hey Michael, this is Michael. I met you on such day at such an event.
We spoke about X, Y, ZI told you Tuesday and Wednesday were open. Tuesday was full Wednesday's kind of full. Is there a good day for you? Okay, so what does that do that well, that kind of closes out all the times that you've tried to reach out to him, but it leaves it open for him to contact you. Now, before doing all of this, when you meet with somebody, you want to reach out to them in a soft way, and what I mean by that, go to LinkedIn.
Connect with them. Go to Instagram, see if they have it. Facebook, see if they have it, a YouTube channel. See if they have, wherever they're on social media. Connect. Now with LinkedIn, because I usually use that for business, right? So if you reach out LinkedIn, let's say they're in the roofing company, they're a roofing company, and, you see an article comparing metal roofs to shingle roofs and whatnot, I would attach that to your next message. You always wanna bring value to the message. You never want to sell. You never want to sell, right? So you're bringing value to the relationship. If you bring value to it, once, twice, even three times, they'll get the message.
They will reach out to you. Now, I have a lot about using A CRM, and if you don't have one, if you don't have one, I would highly advise getting one. Because what it does, I said get 15, 20 business cards from your event. That's great. From the first one, there's somebody that I met on. Other podcasts where he has everything on one side of the computer, and as soon as he makes contact with them, he changes it to the other side of the computer.
That's great if you're only dealing with 15, 30 business cards. But what about the fifth, sixth, seventh time that you go to a networking event? What are you gonna do with 150 cards? You're not gonna sit there and play swapsies. You have to put 'em into a CRM because what will A CRM do? It'll keep you organized.
And that's really, organ organization is key. Because you know what you have to organization is key because if you don't do it early. Then you're gonna lose out, right? You're gonna lose something. You're gonna leave money on the table. So remember, okay, I, I've given you a lot so far, and I, there's much, many, much more that I can give you, I can teach you.
But you know what the most important thing is? Practice. Practice, okay. And you want to focus on building the relationship. You're not looking to sell. You are looking to building the relationship. And look, you can find the people on LinkedIn and you know the people that you want to go after, don't sell to them.
Just build that relationship and just remember the handwritten thank you notes. Everybody that I coach, everybody that I talk to, that I teach, that I've been teaching this handwritten thank you note has gotten such favorable reviews feedback, not reviews, feedback. And I've got a stack of a hundred thank you notes because every time I coach a client, I have 'em write me a thank you note.
Just get into the habit. So with that being said, I want to tell you that giving is the fastest way to build that relationship. So I told you to build relationships, giving, not receiving. That's the fastest way to build a relationship. And remember, people hate to be sold. They hate to be sold to, but they love to buy.
And a way to think about you and somebody you networking in itself. Don't think about how many people are in your network. Think about how many people how many people that you are in their network. So just remember that's very important. So that's what I have to tell you that first of all, doing my doing my podcast was just an idea in the beginning, just a way for me to spread the word that I can I can help other people.
It's turned into quite a bit more. I've had wonderful guests from, besides Canada, Mexico, Australia, the uk, Israel, Egypt I've had them from all over and all of them bring something different to networking. So it's very important. And I tell them all, networking is the base of all businesses.
But anyway. Okay. All right. That's a wrap for episode 100, and I'm Michael Foreman. Thank you for sticking with me through a hundred chances to mess up and to mess up a handshake and a hundred ways to get it right. If one of today's actions landed for you, do me a favor, cry within the next 24 hours and send me a one sentence victory report.
I live for those. So just send it to Michael@michaelaforman.com. You can subscribe to subscribe wherever you get podcasts. Leave a quick review if this episode helped you or if it made you. I'll tell a colleague that treats LinkedIn like a museum that they don't wanna do. They get a connection.
They don't leave it, they don't bring value. Bring value to your network. Remember, go to michaelaforman.com 'cause I have digital courses on there from the beginner to the experienced. I have a full course on there, everything I just talked about plus more. But I also have networking made simplistically.
I have networking for realtors, I have all sorts of podcasts. So let me tell you, I'm gonna see you next week or actually later on this week. And you I just want you to put the useful moves. And if you do what I told you you'll increase profits. I did this with a company. I think I traveled to Ohio and I got a call back about four months later.
I said, Mike we brought, and everything that you told us to do, we increased our ROI. By $25,000. So it works. So if anything hats off to you. Hats off to me. Whatever. I will see you for number 1 0 1. Thank you and have a good night.
hold on folks. Don't go anywhere. Let's hear from our sponsors. David Neal, co-founder Revved Up Kids. Revved Up Kids is on a mission to protect children and teens from sexual abuse, exploitation, and trafficking. They provide prevention, training programs for children, teens, and adults. To learn more, go to RevD up kids.org.
Henry Kaplan Century 21. When it comes to making the biggest financial decision of your life, leave it in the hands of a proven professional. Henry Kaplan Henry is a global real estate agent with Century 21, celebrating his 41st year in business. No matter where you're moving, Henry has a right, has the right connections for you.
You can contact Henry at 5 6 1 4 2 7 4 8 8 8.
🎙️ *“Well, that’s a wrap, folks! A huge thank you to our guest for sharing such incredible insights today. And of course, a big shoutout to you, our amazing listeners, for tuning in and spending your time with us.
If you are interested in my Digital Courses, being coached or having me come and talk to your company just go to www.MichaelAForman.com and fill out the request for info.
Remember, networking isn’t about being perfect—it’s about being present. So take what you’ve learned today, get out there, and make some meaningful connections.
If you enjoyed this episode, don’t forget to subscribe, leave us a review, and share it with someone who could use a little networking inspiration. Let’s keep the conversation going—you can find me on Apple, Spotify, Pandora, YouTube or my website 📍 📍 MichaelAForman.compodcast.
Until next time, keep practicing, keep connecting, and keep building those relationships. This is Michael A. Forman, signing off. Take care, and happy networking!”
Michael is a business networking expert specializing in enhancing professionals' networking and communication skills to drive profitability. As a leading authority in this field, he is highly sought after for his dynamic presentations and workshops. His extensive experience has consistently led to significant improvements in corporate profitability by empowering individuals and organizations to connect more effectively and efficiently.
Digital Courses
Comments