May Education Meeting

Networking NOT Working: Maybe We Go About it ALL Wrong

Presenter:

Kelly Standing

A No-Fail Formula for Making Conversation Comfortably and Profitably.™

Some people struggle more with small talk than they do with a big presentation. If you get more nervous or uncomfortable making conversation one-on-one than you do delivering a speech, you need Kelly Standing’s formula for comfortable conversations.

Nearly every relationship we have begins with small talk, yet some people struggle more with small talk than they do with a big presentation. Like it or now, throughout our personal and professional lives, we all have to make conversation with people we don’t know very well or people we haven’t seen in a long time…whose names we’ve forgotten and whose lives are a blur to us.

What can we do at a cocktail party, professional gathering or even a family reunion to break the ice and make the awkwardness go away?

In “Networking NOT Working: Maybe We Go About it ALL Wrong,” Kelly Standing shares hands-on, use-them-now techniques to make even the most reluctant conversationalist more comfortable and confident. Kelly candidly shares some of her own small talk tragedies and what she learned from them. Years ago, she realized most of us (herself included) spend more time deciding what we’ll wear to small talk situations than we do figuring out what we’ll say. That’s short-sighted; small talk can lead to BIG things, and it deserves at least as much attention as the color of your tie or the cut of your blouse. Kelly’s system for small talk includes a quick, pre-party exercise and great conversation starters and conversation builders to get beyond “Hello” and the weather.

This program has been submitted to the Events Industry Council for CMP Preferred Provider Review and is pending approval for 1.5 CEU credit hours.

About Our Speaker




How Close Will You Stand to Kelly STANDING?

Based on all her brushes with death on the personal side, you may not want to stand too close to Kelly Standing.

Professionally, however, you’ll want to keep her very nearby for the uncommon wit and wisdom she has to share. For more than 15 years, when Kelly wasn’t facing death or natural disasters, as a speechwriter and presentation coach, she worked with other speakers – CEOs, sales professionals, corporate and not-for-profit spokespeople and other professional speakers – to bring their own stories to life. As a successful entrepreneur with a corporate speechwriting and coaching practice, she helped America’s top executives and even a few celebrities make good impressions everywhere they went.

Venue


The Saint Louis Club has been the foremost private dining Club in the St. Louis area for the past 50 years.

It was founded in 1964 by a group of innovative business leaders with the foresight to recognize the need for a luncheon and dinner club near the city’s westward expansion. The founders include virtually all of the community leaders of their time and this tradition has carried forward to the current membership.

In addition to the elegant cuisine, the Saint Louis Club offers three floors of meeting space, designed to convey the city’s French heritage. The beautifully decorated rooms accommodate business and social events for groups from two to two hundred, as well as offering creative Club sponsored events. The Club is renowned for serving consistently high quality food in a comfortable atmosphere, accompanied by fine service. We are proud to include among our professional staff Executive Chef Pierre Chambrin, former Executive Chef to the White House. In 2008, Pierre was named Chef of the Year by the Master Chefs of France.

Interested in Being a Monthly Program Sponsor?
Would you like additional exposure within the MPI St. Louis Area Chapter? Have your logo proudly displayed (in our registration materials, via social media and at our meeting), and share a few words about your company to our membership at the podium. Contact Kaitlin Jakel, Vice President of Education, for information on Monthly Program sponsorship opportunities at kmjakel@express-scripts.com or (618) 567-8868.

Supplier Members have the option of sponsoring a table for $25. This is a great opportunity to capture the attention of your fellow tablemates (usually 5-6 people) and present collateral, giveaways or a brief overview of your organization. Feel free to ask attendees to join you at your table for lunch. Table Sponsors will be recognized at the event.

Schedule
11:00 a.m. Registration & Networking
11:30 a.m. Lunch
12:15 p.m. – 1:15 p.m. Program

Fees
$40 Members
$65 Non-Members/Guests**
$20 Student Members
Student Guests – Call MPI St. Louis at (314) 416-2234 for rate and to register.

Walk-ins and meeting registrations not received by the cancellation deadline, May21st, will be charged an additional $20 per registration.