How do you make a friend from a stranger? Keith Ferrazzi

Making Friends out of Strangers

Posted on November 28th, 2012 by Keith Ferrazzi

This time of year is filled with social events and networking opportunities. Walking into an event and seeing a crowd of unfamiliar faces is intimidating to even the best of connectors. In this excerpt from a Social Capitalist interview, Andy Ellwood, director of strategy at Goodpenny, explains the techniques he uses to approach and build relationships with strangers at large gatherings:

When you go to one of those events and you don’t know anyone, it does get a little bit intimidating when you’re staring at a large room. But you can look it as a game – you know, use the line, ‘Hi, I don’t know anyone here. I promised myself I would meet five new people before the end of the night, and I’m curious if you would be one of them.’ This lets people know that I’m not just a random person coming up to you for no apparent reason. I really would love to have the opportunity to meet somebody new and shake your hand. Being tall, I tend to find other tall people. And that’s easy because they’re standing out above the crowd. If I’m wearing a pocket square, if there’s anybody else wearing a pocket square, I’ll compliment them on the pocket square.

I love Andy’s suggestion to make it like a game – in other words, make it fun. Recently I read in Ramit Sethi’s email newsletter that DailyWorth.com founder Amanda Steinberg tries to scan the crowd to find the person in the room who “who emits the happiest vibe,” another great approach.

To listen to the rest of Andy’s interview, download the Social Capitalist podcast or get the transcript.

What’s your strategy for who to approach first (second, or third) at a big event?