One of the main purposes of attending a networking event is to meet people who can build your network. These people can be your clients or they can refer you to your ideal clients. In order for this to take place professionals must come armed and prepared for their networking functions. They should carry plenty of business cards and know their 30 second elevator speech by heart. They should also be armed with a list of questions which can facilitate good conversation for future business success. These business or social conversations should be active for both the speaker and the listener. They should also be lively, fun and memorable to all involved parties. In essence, the champagne and beer should not be the only things sparkling at your next networking event!

Listed below are questions that can help create a bubbly reaction to any networking conversation!

Typical Networking Question: "What do you do?"

Instead of asking this question, business people should try and be creative in their conversational approach. For example, they should ask, "What do you enjoy about your job or profession?", "How many years of experience do you have in your job or career?", "What is your background for doing your present work?", "Will you continue down this career path or are you interested in trying something different?", "Does your job or career allow you to do other activities and develop other skills which are similar?".

Typical Networking Question: "Who buys your services or products?"

Instead of asking this question, professionals are encouraged to ask more constructive questions to learn more about their business counterparts. A great question is, "Who is your ideal client?", "How do you market to your target audience?", "What are some of the difficulties involved in reaching your target audience?", "How do you find ways to improve your services and products to create customer/client loyalty?", "How do you keep your prices competitive for your clients or customers?".

Typical Networking Question: "Are you a member of this organization or group?"

Instead of asking this question, professionals should try and ask more detail questions to get the right answers for their questions. A professional should ask, "Are you familiar with the mission or objectives of this group or organization?", "How often does this group or organization have networking events similar to the one we are attending?", "Who is most likely to join this organization?", "What are the member benefits of joining this group or organization?"