Conversation Confidence
How to start a conversation with anyone in the room, keep it going, and steer it where you want it.
“Asking ‘what do you do?’ at networking events is boring, predictable and often doesn’t work.” Jonathan Lee
Great conversations open doors, and it’s a skill most people are never taught. This is a hands-on night — you’re on your feet practising, not sitting and listening. You leave pitch-ready, and having actually met the room.
Save my spot — it’s free
This workshop is for you.
“I froze.”
You got introduced to exactly the right person, and had nothing ready.
“I skipped it.”
You avoid the rooms where those conversations happen. Part of you wishes you didn’t.
“I had my pitch. Then they asked something else.”
Preparing what you want to say is the easy half.
“I did all the talking.”
Conversation is two-way. Most preparation only covers your half of it.
You leave with five things.
Make a friend in a sixty-second coffee queue
Not small talk that dies at the counter. A short exchange that ends with someone glad they met you.
A simpler way to say what you’re about
Short enough to say in a queue, clear enough that the right people lean in.
Listening that makes it better for both of you
The half of the conversation most people never practise.
When to use humour, and when to leave it alone
For the moment a conversation gets too serious, or slides off-topic.
Knowing which conversation you’re actually in
There’s more than one kind. Each one is worth something different, and they’re not interchangeable.
You’ll be practising, not listening.
Who they are · Practise · Curve balls
Stop opening with “what do you do?”
“Instead of starting a conversation by finding out what people do, be more interested in who they are and why they do it.”
Jonathan’s own line, and the first thing the night changes.
You practise on each other
It’s a hands-on workshop. The icebreaker, all three sessions and the close are things you do, in pairs and small groups.
Nobody sits through a slide deck about rapport.
Curve balls are the point
You can rehearse your pitch. You can’t rehearse what they ask back.
Session three is the room asking each other the hard questions and making the comments you didn’t see coming — on purpose, where it costs nothing.
Doors at 6:00. Finished by 8:00.
Doors open at 6:00pm with light snacks and drinks, and time to meet a few people. The session itself starts at 6:30 and runs in five blocks.
Icebreaker
You introduce yourself to the group — the way Jonathan tells you to, which is designed to make you memorable.
Spot the moment
Taking advantage of a networking situation as it turns up in front of you.
Say what you’re about
Fine-tuning your values and your proposition so they stand out.
Curve balls
On each other. The hard questions, and the comments you didn’t see coming.
Conclusion
What you noticed about yourself, and about everyone else.
Come if any of these sound like you.
