Haveo · Networking guides
How to follow up after meeting someone at a networking event
Send it within 48 hours, keep it to three sentences, and name one specific thing you talked about. Something like: "Hi Sam — good to meet you at the design meetup. Still thinking about what you said about hiring juniors. Would be good to stay in touch." That is the whole job.
Send it within 48 hours
The specific detail that makes a follow-up land is the one you forget first. Two days out you still remember the conversation; a week out you are sending a generic note, and generic notes read as transactional — which is exactly the reason most people never send one at all.
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The three-sentence shape
- Where you met. One clause. They met a lot of people too.
- The specific thing. Something they actually said. This is the entire message — it proves you listened.
- The low-pressure close. "Would be good to stay in touch." No ask, no meeting request, no pitch.
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What makes a follow-up feel impersonal
Templates that could have been sent to anyone, an ask in the first message, and flattery with no detail behind it. If your note would still make sense addressed to a different person, it is not a follow-up — it is a mass email.
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Sample email: you talked for a few minutes
Subject: Good to meet you at [event]
"Hi [name] — good to meet you at [event] on [day]. I am still thinking about what you said about [topic]. Would be good to stay in touch."
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Sample email: you had a real conversation
Subject: [Topic] — following up from [event]
"Hi [name] — thanks for the conversation at [event]. Your point about [specific thing] was useful, and I looked up [thing they mentioned] afterwards. If you are open to it, I would like to hear more about how your team handles [topic] over a short call sometime."
Only add a request when the conversation earned it. If you only spoke for two minutes, use the first sample.
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Sample email: they offered to help
Subject: Following up on your offer at [event]
"Hi [name] — at [event] you kindly offered to [introduce me to / send me / look at] [thing]. If that still works for you, here is what would help: [one specific, small thing]. Thank you either way."
Name the exact thing they offered. People offer help in the moment and forget the details, so make it easy to say yes in one reply.
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LinkedIn note version
LinkedIn shows the note on a phone, so keep it to two sentences. Always add a note to the request. A connection request with no note looks the same as no follow-up.
"Hi [name] — good to meet you at [event]. I enjoyed our talk about [topic] and would like to stay in touch."
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Subject lines that work
- Use the event name. It is the one thing that tells them who you are before they open the email.
- Good to meet you at [event]
- Following up from [event]: [topic]
- Thanks for the conversation at [event]
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Write the note before you forget
Capture the detail while you are still there — a line in your phone as you leave. Haveo has this built in: save who you met, keep the one thing you talked about, and set your own reminder to send the message.
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Rehearse it before you walk in.
Haveo builds your intro, lets you practice out loud with an AI coach, and keeps your notes one tap away in the room. Free on iPhone and iPad with iOS 15.1 or later. No account required.
Download Haveo — free- The follow-up email, with templates you can actually send
Four short templates for the message after you meet someone: the normal one, the one with an ask, the late one, and the one where you barely spoke. - The LinkedIn message after you meet someone
What to write in the connection note, why the default blank request wastes the meeting, and three short versions to copy. - Subject lines for a follow-up email
Ten subject lines that get opened, why the clever ones do worse, and the one word that does most of the work. - What to do with the business cards
The pile in your bag is not a contact list. What to do in the taxi home, what to do the next morning, and what to throw away. - Following up when it has been too long
Three weeks, three months, or a year later. What to write, how much to apologize, and when it genuinely is too late. - How to remember who you met
Why names disappear within minutes, the ten-second note that fixes it, and what to write down that is actually useful later. - What to say in a coffee chat
You asked for twenty minutes and got it. How to open, what to ask, what not to ask, and how to end it without an awkward pause.