I'm attending a networking event tonight (which I'll cover in more detail tomorrow over on the Employer HotSpot blog), and I always have to remind myself to practice that 10 second pitch beforehand.  You know, the "where do you work, what do you do, why does it matter?" line.   Back when I worked at Microsoft, it was easy:  "I work in recruiting at Microsoft."  "Oh, cool," people would reply.  That pretty much answered all their questions so I didn't need to go into more detail.  Now that I've moved on, I find it's as bit more difficult to explain my relevancy.  Of course, the whole reason to go to networking events is meet new people and hopefully introduce them to something new about you or your company.  But I do find I have trouble now succinctly explaining where I work, what I do, and why it matters.  So I just have to take the extra time to practice in advance to make sure I spit it out before I feel that glazed look coming back at me. :)

Be sure you've always got that 10 second pitch down.  And depending on the venue, it may change.  It's important to make it relevant for your audience.  Tonight, I'm attending a function hosted by some recruiting technology providers for Seattle area recruiters - so my pitch will be around recruiting and recruiting technology.  But a few months ago, I attended the Blog Business Summit, and my pitch was around social marketing as it relates to recruiting.  And occasionally, I attend developer events, like local user group meetings - where my pitch is more around my recruiting and marketing focus with the developer community.

Take a few minutes to write down your pitch and then say it into the mirror.  It will make your evening go a lot more smoothly.  I promise. :)

gretchen