“You can make more friends in two months by becoming interested in other people than you can in two years trying to get people interested in you.” — Dale Carnegie Great advice Carnegie – and a great start for networking. One of the best ways to begin a conversation – and become interested in others – is by asking open-ended questions. 

What’s an open-ended question? One that cannot be answered by either “yes,” “no” or another one-word response.  Question: “Is this your first time at this event?” Answer: “Yes.” Gee how exciting. Makes you really warm up to that person, eh? 

Instead, how about asking, “So, what brought you to this meeting?” or “What interested you most about this speaker?” Now that can start a conversation.