I once heard that the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again while expecting a different result. Well I’d like to add a second definition: trying to please everyone. Trying to make everyone in a group happy ranges from difficult to impossible and the only guarantee you have is that you’ll wish you never tried.

This topic comes up frequently in both my public speaking and networking classes as people are concerned about what others think. I think we all have a natural tendency to focus on the audience members that aren’t paying attention to us during a speech or the folks at a networking event that say “it was nice to meet you – I see a client on the other side of the room” immediately after you introduce yourself.

Whether you’re at a job interview, attending a networking event or giving a speech, it’s important that you dress appropriately. I’ve seen fashion faux pas in business situations that have actually shocked me: from the person that I interviewed who was dressed more casually than me to person at a networking event who was dressed like he was meeting Cinderella at the grand ball.

Appropriate dress is always in the eyes of the beholder and inappropriate dress can often cause negative perceptions about you before you even open your mouth. Three’s no hard and fast rule such as all job interviews require formal dress or all networking events require business dress as I’ve seen several situations where events that traditionally require formal dress requested casual dress and vice versa.

Relationships are the key to networking success and the sign of a great networker is to have a wide variety of people in his or her network that can be tapped when you or someone you know is in need of something. So perhaps you have a friend looking to relocate that needs a real estate agent to sell a house. Your neighbor is a real estate agent, so you connect her with your friend and you look like a hero for bringing the two together, right? Not so fast.

Whether you’re trying to memorize the main points of your speech, your to do list or the capitals of the major countries of the world, a good memory can be a powerful asset. The benefits to having an excellent memory are extraordinary: improving your memory will help you be more efficient, learn things faster and communicate better. Here is a far from complete list of skills that you’ll notice big improvements in with a better memory:

• Public Speaking (remembering your material, especially key points)
• Networking (remembering names and conversations)
• Personal Finance (remembering to pay bills and take advantage of deals)

Networking is a term that means different things to different people. To some, it has a negative connotation such as relying on others to get things or trying to get something out of everyone you interact with. To others, it strikes a chord of fear because they associate the term with having to introduce themselves to a total stranger.

I came across an interesting blog about business networking called BusinessNetworkingAdvice.com. The blog author, Josh Hinds, has interviewed several people to get their thoughts on Business Networking so it’s a good read. Josh asks two questions:

1. How do you define Business Networking and why do you feel it is important?
2. Can you share a few ideas that someone could put into practice that would help them to improve their business networking skills?

The answers vary but some key elements include:

• Networking is more than just trying to see what you can get from someone else.

Networking events are tough for many people. You have to go up to a complete stranger, introduce yourself and carry on a conversation with the hopes that either or both of you will find some benefit of knowing each other.

A little research about the organization hosting the event, the people attending, and even the venue will help put you at ease as you’ll have something to talk about. But even that is sometimes not enough - especially if you attend an event where it seems like most of the people in the room already know each other.