What's a Good "hook" at a Conference?

I'm in a class that has a lot of guest lecturers that are fairly high-ranking executives or (sometimes extraordinarily) successful entrepreneurs. I realize this is a great networking opportunity, and many people go up to the speaker afterwards and exchange business cards. I realize the need for an "elevator pitch" that you need to be able to sell someone in two minutes on why you are right for the job. But this seems like a slightly different atmosphere, it's not a job interview so I'm not pitching myself.

What do you guys do to make the initial connection when you walk up to the lecturer at this point? Do you just pick out something from the lecture that you found interesting and say "I thought your explanation of XYZ was really interesting" and then make a bs suck up question?

Most of the people are distributing their email addresses to the group, so I find it more comfortable to follow up that way, although it loses some of the personal impact.

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"Hey I appreciate that you took the time to come out and speak. Would you mind if I contacted you sometime to talk more about Firm?"

Blue horseshoe loves Anacott Steel
 

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