I picked him up at his office. That was a mistake. It made the ordeal even longer.

He came out to the lobby and shook my hand. Weak handshake, minimal eye contact. Whatever—I’d get through this.

I made some joke as we walked to the car. No laugh. Awkward.

We got in and buckled up. He couldn’t get the buckle to hook. Here I am helping some guy get his seatbelt on in my car. Weird.

I start asking questions as we drive. Things are not going well. Single-syllable answers. It got even more awkward. Traffic. We’re stuck. Apparently, there’s an accident.

I’m starting to wonder whether I can keep the conversation going. I ask question after question, and I’m getting minimal engagement. We need to drive 6 miles to the restaurant, and it takes almost 30 minutes. I am a basket case by the time we arrive.

We get seated, and it takes forever to order (is that reality, or did it just feel like forever?). I slip into monologue. I just start talking and talking. I imagine the questions a normal person might ask, and I answer them. I dredge up every good story I’ve got.

I continue the monologue in the car on the way back. I pull up to the door and dump him off. It was a nightmare. Needless to say, that was our one and only lunch.

How to Turn Your Nightmare Into a Good Dream

Networking is the key for many practices. The referrals we get from our network are the economic engine that drives us forward. Anyone who’s ever worked on building his or her number of business relationships has had a nightmare meeting of one kind or another. It helps us all to hear about what happened and how you survived.

Please share your story in the comments below. I’ll pick the best story and send you a free membership of my e-course Networking 101. Please jump in and tell us your tales of networking woe.