1) Seek long-term connections, not short-term gains. Networking is about being authentic, unselfish, genuine and honest. The key to successful networking is to be a decent and honorable person even when you’re not networking.

2) Act with confidence even if you feel shy and intimidated. You may feel understandably self-conscious and uncomfortable when meeting people more powerful than yourself, but successful networking requires you do it anyway. Do your best to appear self-confident. Try to ignore any negative self-talk.

3) Reach out to people in a warm and sincere way. Risk rejection. Be friendly and generous. Smile, shake hands firmly, make eye contact and ask open-ended questions (questions which require more than a yes or no). Resist the urge to dominate the conversation. Listen intently. Be present. Focus on their concerns, not yours. Learn their name and use it so you begin to associate the name with the face.

4) At meetings or conferences, go out of your way to meet people. Physically move around and work the room. Don’t get stuck talking to one person just to be polite. (Say to the person, ‘I enjoyed meeting you and learning about your work. Let’s both meet some of the other people here. I hope to run into you again later,’ then shake hands and leave.) Show genuine interest in everyone you meet and form relationships that are meaningful. Exchange business cards. Find out about other people’s interests and concerns.

Read more: http://realscreen.com/2008/09/01/networking-20080901/#ixzz1W6SZ08o3

Professor Chris PalmerAuthor of Shooting in the Wild: An Insider's Account of Making Movies in the Animal Kingdom  (Sierra Club Books, 2010)Distinguished Film Producer in ResidenceDirector, Center for Environmental FilmmakingSchool of Communication, American Universitycell 202-716-6160; office 202-885-3408Center website: www.environmentalfilm.org SOC profile: http://www.american.edu/soc/faculty/palmer.cfm Shooting in the Wild on Facebook: http://on.fb.me/gOTUlc Shooting in the Wild website: http://bit.ly/a4L3LU Chris’s Facebook site: http://www.facebook.com/#!/chrispalmer47 Follow me on Twitter @chrispalmer_au Chris’s blog: http://soc-palmer.blogs.american.edu/  President, One World One Ocean FoundationPresident, MacGillivray Freeman Films Educational Foundationcpalmer@mffeducation.orgwww.mffeducation.org Chief Executive Officer, VideoTakes, Inc.chris@videotakes.comwww.videotakes.com