I recently had the good fortune of being able to speak to a College Marketing & Sales class on one of my favourite topics: storytelling, and its value both within Marketing and beyond. It was a ton of fun… but what was really interesting about the experience was how it came about.

See, I didn’t know the class’s professor before the speaking engagement. In fact, I wasn’t even connected to him on LinkedIn when I originally saw his post asking for volunteers to speak to his class.

I’ve seen lots of posts asking for volunteers on LinkedIn, but for some reason this one stood out. It felt like I actually had something of value to say to this class, and so I sent the professor a note. “Hey, saw your note, and I feel like I could be of assistance here,” I started, fully expecting to be politely brushed off for lack of experience or a prior relationship.

To my surprise however, he said the opposite, inviting me in to speak to his class. We continued the conversation, firming up a date and time, and that was that.

I spent a great deal of time compiling content and preparing a presentation to the class – this guy is putting his trust in someone he hasn’t even met before, and I sure wasn’t going to let him down. Ultimately, I feel like the presentations (one for a morning and afternoon class) went well – students were taking photos of my slides, and stayed (mostly) awake while I talked and posed questions.

Lessons from this story

I’m not telling you this story to brag; no, I just think there are some really important lessons to be learned from it.

You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take.

Gretzky said it best. If I wrote myself off and didn’t bother to reach out, I never would have had the chance to add value to the class at all… and all because I talked myself out of it. How many times do we do that to ourselves in our lives? How many jobs do you pass on applying to because you feel you’re not qualified? How many guys or girls have you not asked out because you were afraid of rejection?

Start with giving… always.

I had no agenda in speaking to this class, I just felt like I wanted to do it. There was no personal gain in it for me: I wasn’t getting paid, and I’m not trying to become a public speaker (though how cool would that be?).

In my experience, when you start with giving, rather than taking, great things tend to happen. I believe in karma, and I believe in the power of reciprocity without expectation. When you give without expecting anything in return, people tend to want to help you anyway.

I love this, because it flies in the face of the old saying that “nice guys finish last.” Screw that. That’s a wildly one-dimensional way to go through life, and in my experience, giving more than you take has not only opened new doors for me that I never would have thought possible (and likely would have remained sealed shut had I tried to forcibly pry them open), it also has led to my next point, which is…

You meet great people when reaching out to help.

As it turns out, the professor, whose name was Alan, was an awesome guy – smart, friendly, and genuinely interested in the well-being of his students and others around him. That’s the type of person I want to surround myself with in life. Our time on this planet is too short to hang around with pessimists and downers.

That’s the most recent example I have, but putting my hand up and offering to help out has led to me meeting plenty of other awesome people as well. Some will help you in the future, and others won’t – it doesn’t matter. You’re not doing it for that, you’re doing it because someone else needs you here, now.

It shows the power of networking.

As an introvert, networking has historically been a dirty word for me. When I think of it, I still think of standing around in a crowded room with a fistful of business cards, trying to give away mine while collecting others… yuck.

But networking doesn’t have to, and in fact shouldn’t, be like that. Networking done right isn’t about quantity, it’s about quality. It’s about adding value. It’s about being a connector for others, as much as it is building connections yourself.

And the best part?

Some of the most incredible networking opportunities happen outside of formal networking events. They happen when you’re not expecting to network. They happen when you’re sitting beside a shy person at a conference. They happen when you’re waiting for coffee at the local café. And they happen when you see a stranger’s post on LinkedIn asking for help.

Through this lens, almost any conversation is a networking opportunity, and that makes it a lot less scary, and a lot more straightforward: look for ways to help others in your day-to-day life, and don’t think of it as networking; think of it as helping. Think of it as nothing more than reaching out to lend a helping hand.

Wrapping it Up

Reflecting on this speaking opportunity and how it came about has been an awesome experience. There are so many great lessons that come out of it, and it serves as validation that being a good person is the right way to live your life.

We all have a moral compass, and it can be hard to continue following it when you see others do the opposite and get rewarded for their efforts. But do it anyway. I promise you, it’s a lot easier to look the person in the mirror in the eyes when you do.