If You're Curious About These Questions...
You should listen to this audiobook
- What's the secret to turning a casual caffeine break into a powerful engine for your professional growth?
- Have you ever wondered how to build an authentic, high-impact network without ever feeling like you’re 'selling' yourself?
- Did you know that there is a specific, repeatable formula for networking that can open doors to your dream job or next big client?
Listen to Coffee Lunch Coffee — Free Audiobook
Loading player...
Key Takeaways from Coffee Lunch Coffee
- Discover why networking goes beyond collecting business cards to become an essential career safety net, regardless of your current employment status.
- Learn how to proactively build a life-changing professional community by treating networking like a job and scheduling regular morning coffees, midday lunches, and afternoon coffees.
- Understand how to prepare for networking success by clearly identifying your short- and long-term goals, along with a definitive list of your career 'non-negotiables'.
- Master a holistic approach to meeting prep by aligning your mind to research your contact, your body to project positivity, and your spirit to focus on helping others.
- Find out how to initiate connections and bring your work experience to life by structuring your professional anecdotes around a conflict, a peak, and a personal transformation.
Learning Tools
Reinforce what you learned from Coffee Lunch Coffee
Mind Map
Coffee Lunch Coffee
The Value of Networking
Networking is a prerequisite for professional success, even if you are employed.
It creates a vital safety net and helps you adapt to business changes.
Focus on establishing relationships and helping others, not just collecting cards.
Quality of relations matters far more than the quantity of contacts.
Preparation & Goals
Prioritize long-term goals to help determine your short-term networking steps.
List known contacts, desired contacts, target companies, and job 'non-negotiables'.
Prepare your mind by researching the person you are meeting.
Prepare your body with contagious positivity and cheerfulness.
Prepare your spirit by focusing on how you can help them.
The Portfolio
Prepare a 30-second elevator pitch to advertise yourself quickly.
Carry standard business cards and personal cards stating your specialization.
Keep your resume enticing but not exhaustive, revealing just enough.
Include an up-to-date, professional headshot with your resume.
Draft two professional bios: a 200-word version and a 500-word version.
Outreach & Storytelling
Send an intro email outlining experience, but save the resume for later.
Share anecdotes featuring a conflict, anticipation, a peak solution, and transformation.
Highlight helpful colleagues in your stories to show you aren't the only hero.
Practice your stories beforehand to bring your work experience to life.
In-Person Meetings
Offer a firm handshake and approach the meeting with confidence.
Ask questions about their company's direction and their personal career path.
Listen actively to link their responses to your professional interests.
Control stress by maintaining eye contact and deepening your breathing.
Keep hand movements to a minimum to appear comfortable and calm.
Mindset & Perseverance
Step outside your comfort zone to turn natural situations into networking.
Always send a follow-up thank-you email recapping what you learned.
Mastering networking is a lifelong task requiring patience, like learning a language.
Relationships need time and attention to grow, much like cultivating a garden.
Apply comfortable interaction habits from your social life to professional networking.
Quiz — Test Your Understanding
Question 1 of 8
According to the book, what is the primary purpose of networking?
Coffee Lunch Coffee — Full Chapter Overview
Chapter 1: Recommendation
Chapter 2: Networking is an essential skill for success today that goes far beyond just collecting business cards alone.
Chapter 3: Networking is about building community and can truly be life-changing.
Chapter 4: To succeed at networking, you must know your goals and finish the necessary preparation first.
Chapter 5: Storytelling kickstarts networking and brings your work experience vividly alive.
Chapter 6: When networking in person, you must stay fully present and manage your stress levels.
Chapter 7: Effective networking requires building your portfolio.
Chapter 8: Networking entails taking risks and stepping beyond your comfort zone.
Chapter 9: Refusing to ever quit is key to mastering networking.
Coffee Lunch Coffee Summary & Overview
Coffee Lunch Coffee (2012) is a practical guide to networking. Using her personal and professional experience, along with tips and exercises, author Alana Muller demonstrates how to develop networking skills and build lasting relationships that can help us in our personal and professional lives. A must-have for anyone who wants to succeed professionally.
Who Should Listen to Coffee Lunch Coffee?
- Anyone who wants to change jobs
- College graduates looking to find a job
- Start-ups wanting to increase their number of clients
Books Similar to Coffee Lunch Coffee
Readers who enjoyed this also liked these titles.
Never Eat Alone
★ 4.3 / 5 • 319 ratingsAnd Other Secrets to Success, One Relationship at a Time
Strategic Connections
★ 3.8 / 5 • 99 ratingsThe New Face of Networking in a Collaborative World
How to Be a Power Connector
★ 4.2 / 5 • 62 ratingsThe 5+50+100 Rule for Turning Your Business Network into Profits
Friend of a Friend
★ 4.3 / 5 • 77 ratingsUnderstanding the Hidden Networks That Can Transform Your Life and Your Career