Every time I am convinced that most entrepreneurs in Russia struggle with this. Yesterday I was convinced again, having received a maximum of personal and inappropriate questions from strangers and finding only two pleasant professional conversations.

What to talk about at a conference with strangers?

1. About the event context

What brought you here? What is the most interesting thing for you in today's program? What insight did you take away today? Have you checked out the exhibition area, is there anything worth paying attention to?

2. About the professional journey

What brought you into the field?

3. About trends and challenges

What do you think about...? Have you heard about...? How should one work with problem X in your opinion? Many complain about..., but how do you overcome this in your company?

4. About the future

What other events are you planning to attend?

To keep the conversation flowing like a river, stick to the triangle Question-Answer-Bridge.

It goes something like this:

- How did you like today's speaker?
- Very lively, but too much fluff.
- I agree, I also lacked numbers. By the way, since we're talking about numbers, I work in analytics at [Your Company]. And in your work, do you rely more on intuition or strict metrics?

How to end the conversation?

Let's exchange contacts, it would be interesting to discuss X.

Voila, you are wonderful!

From personal experience, I can say that talking to strangers is necessary and possible. Once it led me to a women's investment club and helped me get a free venue for renting out a hot event.

So don't be afraid to approach strangers.