Matthew Pollard, an introverted entrepreneur who built multimillion-dollar startups, shows how to network without charisma. Stories improve recall by 22 times. Ninety percent of networking success happens outside the event room through systematic planning and disciplined follow-up.
Chapters
You have been sold a lie. One of the biggest myths that's plaguing the business world today is that in order to effectively network and grow your small business, you need to have the gift of gab and be an extrovert. But Book Thinkers family, that is not true. And so today I'd like to review 4 of my biggest takeaways from this book right here, The Introvert's Edge to Networking by Matthew Pollard. Who is Matthew Pollard? Well, he's an extremely successful small business owner. He was involved in 5 multimillion-dollar startups before the age of 30. Business success stories. And guess what? He's an introvert. I'd like to read a little bit more about Matthew before I go into my 4 biggest takeaways. In 2014, Matthew transitioned from Australia, where he had developed this big, great network, to the US. He moved to Austin, Texas. And he found himself without any network, but he wanted to start from scratch. So he developed a series of systems that enabled him to do that as an introvert. And so if you're like me and you get sweaty palms when you walk into a networking room, there are ways to mitigate that. And why did he develop systems? Well, as an introvert, if you prepare more, you can decrease your anxiety. And systems work in all areas of business. If you've read The E-Myth Revisited by Michael E. Gerber like I have and like Matthew has, then you know systems can help automate a lot of things that you don't really want to leave up to chance. And so what are my 4 biggest takeaways? Well, the first one has to do with systems. Check this out. Matthew says that with the right system and process, I don't need to be funny, competitive, or gregarious. When it comes down to it, 90% of networking success at least the way that he does it, happens outside the room. He focuses on strategy and preparation, not on trying to be charismatic and energetic, which makes a lot of sense to me. I think it could be a little bit overwhelming to have to force the smile for a couple of hours and trade a bunch of business cards and really not have a system for follow-up or anything like that. This book holds the keys to helping you do that more effectively. So my second biggest takeaway has to do with Storytelling. As somebody who used to struggle with a lot of social anxiety, I know what it's like to improve your speech. I actually minored in public speaking when I was in college. I did years of door-to-door selling and then phone selling, and then I also went to Toastmasters for about a year as well. And one of the things that you learn is that you need to become an effective storyteller. Well, why? Check out this statistic. Matthew shares that a Stanford professor named Jennifer Aaker found that people can remember up to 22 times more information when it's embedded into a story than when it's presented just as plain facts. Human beings love emotion, and when we can get emotionally involved in a story, we can retain more information. So if you're like me and you walk out of the networking event sometimes and you go, nobody remembers who I am, that's because you're not interesting enough. You don't need to be charismatic or energetic. You need to be interesting, and the best way to do that is to tell effective stories. So Matthew shares a lot of great tips on how you can embed storytelling into your networking success. If you want to learn what those are, you have to check out this book. Here's my next takeaway, and this one hits home for me because I was actually at a networking event a couple of weeks ago where I slipped up on this. Matthew says that you need to be prepared to disengage. When you're at a networking event. Why? Because it signals that you're being respectful of the other person's time. It says, hey, I'm not a potential clinger. I'm your peer. We are equals. This one hits home because I was at a networking event a couple of weeks ago where there were a lot of famous authors, big-time names, very professional speakers, and they held a lot of opportunity for me, right? They were my ideal target customer at the event. And sometimes you can trip over yourself You can seem a little foolish or young or immature like I do sometimes, and you might stick around or cling to somebody longer than you should. But by saying, hey, listen, I want to be respectful of your time. I know you've probably got some other people to speak with, and so do I. If the conversation is too long, let me know and I can walk away. And then they go, no, no, stick around. I love what you're saying. And now you're equals. Remember, you can't be a fan and a friend at the same time. You can only be one or the other. So choose to be a friend. Don't take your phone out and take selfies and make the other person feel like you're a fan. And then my last takeaway is that chapter 8, it's actually the title, The Step That Everyone Forgets. Well, what is it? It's follow-up. And if you're confused by how to professionally follow up after a networking event, don't worry, because Matthew has tons of scripts inside of this book that you can leverage for different situations. Whether you're referring somebody to somebody else, whether you're following up on LinkedIn, whether you didn't get their contact information, it's all within this book. Follow-up makes a lot of sense to me. It's why I was successful as a sales professional for a couple of years before Book Thinkers, and it's that step that everybody kind of fails on. Don't just rely on your gut. There are certain cadences that you should follow. Check them out in this book. Okay, Book Thinkers family, there's one last thing which I want to mention to you that Matthew made me aware of. Today on Audible, there's a daily deal where this book right here is available for only $2.95. That is only available today, so you can go to the Instagram stories, swipe up, and check that out. There's also a Chirp audio deal, $2.99, and that lasts through next Tuesday the 17th, so 8/11 to 8/17. It's also available on Apple, Google, and Kobo for $2.99 until the 17th. So if you're interested in learning about this book, if you're interested in going through this book and improving your ability to network, whether you're an extrovert sometimes like I am or an introvert, which a lot of us are, then you need to go take advantage of one of those deals. It's a big discount. DM us if you have any questions about it. Comment down below. Follow Matthew on— excuse me, follow Matthew on Instagram and you'll be able to network more efficiently. Thank you so much for watching today's review and go read something or listen by leveraging those deals. Bye everybody.
