This is my coffee chat formula that lands referrals as well as real connections with the people I'm talking to.

This is my coffee chat formula that lands referrals as well as real connections with the people I'm talking to. My first tip starts before the actual coffee chat. You have to send them a calendar invite through Google. Once you guys settle on a time and a date, you're going to say, hey, perfect, what's your email so I can send you a calendar invite for this? Now, one, you have this contact's email, and two, then you sound professional because you're going to go ahead and send them a calendar invite for around 20 to 30 minutes. Then you're going to hop on the call and you're not going to get down to business immediately. You are going to find some type of icebreaker. The last one I used, it was like, hey, how are you? They asked me how I'm doing. I go, oh my gosh, amazing. Upstate New York finally had an over 60 degrees day. Then we talked about the weather for a bit. The literal definition of small talk, but it just helps bridge a gap. Then I go ahead and say, awesome, well, I'm just going to give a little short intro if that's okay on me, and then I'd love to hear a bit more about you. Then I give them my 30-second elevator pitch, also a great way to keep practicing. After the pitch, explain why you wanted to speak with them. Then say, and I'd love to hear about your career journey from how you got from post-grad to where you are now. Then they're just going to start talking and start blabbering, and you're able to ask questions of things that actually matter to you. And then some other questions I like to keep in the bank, in case nothing interests me on what they're saying or the conversation is just not going, is what things do you think you did in college that helped you get to where you are now? What is the most challenging thing you had to learn when starting this role? What is the most rewarding part of your role? And then also, just especially if you're curious on what they're doing, ask them what their day-to-day work is like.