Lingchuan Xu ’21 | Features Editor
This weekend, I attended a conference held by Forté called the College Fast Track to Finance Conference.
In this conference there were a range of exciting keynote speeches and networking events.
There was an opening keynote speech as well as other speeches and a trading game series to teach players about trade analysis. Among these events, however, the opening keynote speech left me with the most to say.
In the opening speech, “Perfect Your Pitch & Make ‘Em Love You,” the speaker, Nicholas Weber, explained how she made others like her. After letting us brainstorm what, exactly, “an employer does if she/he likes you,” she told us that you would be able to tell because your employer will try to set you up for success: they will recommend you, promote you or even open up their network to you. Later, she talked about how to make people like you. Emphasizing generosity, Weber suggested that we should be nice to everyone and not hesitate to connect with more people, even if they are not in your office.
“We build our network not by asking, but by giving,” Weber said.
After this, we did a practice pitch. Weber said that most of us would tell the employer our majors and schools right after our names, but this doesn’t always work the best. After stating your name, you should say why you’re talking to them and then elaborate on your background. This will give you a simple and concise punch and will successfully grab your audience’s attention.
In the end, Weber said to make sure that all the things you say makes sense and leaves a strong impression on the audience. “[I] once [thought that] making an impression on others within two minutes [was] [im]possible. Later, I found it was possible.”
This speech left a great impression on me. I never thought that your relationships with your colleagues and bosses would be this important. But during this conference, I realized that by being liked, I would be surrounded by a group of people who would continuously support me and cheer me on. This is the very thing I will need as an employee in my future work environment.
Also, the women’s network I found outside of Smith is quite inspiring too. I didn’t think that people outside of college would be active in building women’s networks in their respective fields, but in fact, there are many people doing so. Though women from different regions across the United States attended this conference, they all shared the same values: to support each other, to break the glass ceiling and to rectify gender inequality. I am proud of Smith’s values, and I am proud of people outside of Smith for sharing these same values.
