Hi there! I'm Andy Tagle, nice to meet you.

Strong and cheek, more eye contact.

I'm a producer for NPR's LifeKit, the show you're listening to now,

and I'm here to expand my network.

So hey, what do you do?

Is this person useful to me?

Or the eye-nive up the food chain?

Oh really? How interesting!

You know, I've done something like that before.

Let me show you that line item on my resume.

Oh, and are you doing any hiring right now?

Must be more impressive.

Must get more business cards.

Must shake more hands.

Networking often gets a bad rap.

And if any of the above resonated with your experience trying to network,

it's not hard to understand why.

So many of us cringe at the idea of having to build our brands,

or squirm at the idea of trying to talk ourselves up at cocktail hour.

In fact, one study from the Harvard Business School found just the thought of

professional networking can actually make people feel dirtier.

Participants developed a sudden and disproportionate interest in soap and toothpaste.

...