As some of my readers know, I am the Pioneer Coach for the Social Capital & Networking community where I lead classes with Dr. Ivan Misner of BNI and Soni Pitts, my assistant community coach. This past week I led a Networking  Fearbuster call on the concept of Abundant Networking.

In this call, I explored how the 7 illusions of scarcity from my upcoming book parallel common fears people have with networking.  Here's an example:

"I don't have anything interesting to say."  This is a great example of someone who is stuck in the Illusion of Not Enough.  Have you ever had this thought run around in your mind before a networking event?  It points to disconnection with greatness, with who you are.  We fear that who we are isn't enough - smart enough, appealing enough - to engage others in conversation.  It's as if we need to jump somersaults and speak 10 languages to be compelling enough for people to actually talk to us.

When I discussed this on the call, Dr. Misner chimed in with an excellent suggestion.  If talking about yourself makes you nervous, all the more reason to focus on the other person.  Use who, what, how, and why questions to draw the person out.  Actively listen with curiosity and interest.  Be interested and in doing so, you will be interesting.

But of course, you already know, deep down inside that you are interesting. It's a matter of getting out there and doing what you CAN do, and being yourself in the process.

In February and March, I'm going to be leading a complimentary 4 part teleclass series on The Abundant Networker.  I'd love to have you join me.  To find out more and register, click here.