Five Breakout Room Personas to Avoid in Virtual Networking Events
Over the past 6 months, I’ve attended 20 different virtual networking event series, and I average 3 events per week.
Since business owners come from different places, backgrounds, and training and experience when it comes to what they think will endear them to new contacts and help them sell, this means you see many different types of characters at virtual networking events. And you especially see this diversity on display in breakout rooms — where you typically meet with 1-4 other event attendees for anywhere from 5-15 minutes.
To make sure your next breakout room appearance goes smoothly and authentically, here are five personas to look out for. You also want to make sure you don’t become one of them:
The fast talker. This might be the easiest persona to fall into. With the average business adding more products and/or services over time — along with more divisions and staff — what started as a simple 30-second elevator pitch can morph into a laundry list about all the ways a company can help those watching and listening in an event breakout room. This persona can also develop when a company representative has given their pitch a thousand times, making their delivery monotone along with being fast paced. A way out of this persona is to think like a Broadway actor — while the average performer gives 8 performances per week, he/she/they have trained so that each one seems like it’s being delivered for the very first time.
The time sucker. Here’s what I typically see for this persona: There are 4 people in a Zoom breakout room. We have a collective 6 minutes for all of us to share who we are, what we do, and possibly also to answer a question focused on learning that’s been assigned by the event host. That leaves a mere 90 seconds of time per person. However, I’ve found that in at least 1 out of 4 breakout rooms, you’ll find someone who takes up 2 or even 3 minutes of time for their portion. Therefore my advice to you is to be as concise as you can. And my advice to you when you spot this persona in the room is to, if possible, interject and politely remind everyone of the breakout room time limit and the names of which attendees still need to speak who haven’t been given the opportunity to yet.
The belligerent “helper.” This is a rarer persona, but you certainly know it when you see it. One example is a guy I ran into who provides a service to restaurants. In addition to being a time sucker (see #2), when there was a lull in our group conversation, he asked sternly, “So who’s read some good business books?” After an attendee answered him with a recommendation, there was another pause, after which I answered, “I don’t read business books very often, but I like these business podcasts….” In this case, the “helper” asked a narrow-focused question which, in my opinion, could have been expanded beyond just books, accounting for technology preferences and people who prefer to read fiction over nonfiction. He also employed a loud, authoritative voice where it was clear he was trying to be the leader of the room — which is not needed in a quick, small group setting like a breakout room.
The one with the crazy background. This one is less about the person and more about how he/she/they present — specifically with a virtual background. While you can call attention to yourself with a background unlike one that most other business folks use, a con with this approach is that it’s very easy to fall into “silly” territory where you run the risk of visually alienating many potential leads. An example of this that I talk about in the “Attending events — in-session best practices” module of my Virtual Networking 2 Leads System is an insurance salesman who used a background filled with bright yellow bananas (because it was “bananas” to buy insurance in ways other than the ways he advocates). You will make a far more professional impression, that better positions you to forge productive longterm relationships, if you have a nice, uncluttered “real room” background or use a professional looking virtual background with a single color, or gradient, that might also contain your company logo and/or just a few points about who you help and how you help them. In the latter case, you should avoid using a bright pastel color — unless you work at, say, a yogurt shop or a trampoline park where eye-popping branding is expected.
The one behind the wheel. If you’re at your desk, I’m a big believer that many business owners (and employees) are wired such that they can switch tasks many times in an hour, giving the appearance of multitasking. However, when it comes to being present and making a positive impression in virtual event breakout rooms, I’ve seen over and over again that one can’t both drive and deliver “in the room.” Yet, some attendees get behind the wheel and repeatedly attempt to do both well. Because a driver needs to use his/her/their ears as well as their eyes when on the road, inevitably this persona misses something that another breakout room attendee said. Plus, because the driver wants to be ready to speak and be heard at any moment — and thus, does not turn on Mute — the non-driver attendees (also inevitably) will hear some road noise from the driver’s phone mic. And finally, the phone mount angle that’s below the driver-attendee’s eye line makes for an unflattering point of view for those of us watching at our desks. It’s just not a good look all around, and occasionally I’ve even heard other attendees voice concern that so-and-so should really pull over so that everyone can have the best experience and learn the most over Zoom.
Learn more about how to virtual network the right way
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