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Networking events are tough for many people. You have to go up to a complete stranger, introduce yourself and carry on a conversation with the hopes that either or both of you will find some benefit of knowing each other.
A little research about the organization hosting the event, the people attending, and even the venue will help put you at ease as you’ll have something to talk about. But even that is sometimes not enough – especially if you attend an event where it seems like most of the people in the room already know each other.
The best thing you can do is look for “greeters,” people who have the responsibilty of greeting guests and new members to make them feel more comfortable. Greeters come with different names and roles within the organization such as:
- President/Chairperson
- Events Chair/V.P.
- Membership Chair/V.P.
- Ambassador
- Host
Seek these people out and introduce yourself. Tell them it’s your first time at the event and you’d like them to introduce you to others. Chances are, the people they introduce you to will want to introduce you to the people they know and before you know it, you’ve accumulated a stack of business cards.
If you really want to get to know a lot of people in an organization, become one of these people. I became an ambassador with my local Chamber of Commerce and it really improved my experience at networking events.
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4 users commented on " A quick tip for overcoming shyness at networking events "
February 3 2008
I read your blog in a regular manner and just love it
hope there will be more postings from you, keep on going
greetz, terry
February 4 2008
Hi Terry,
Thanks so much for comments, I really appreciate it. Good luck with your blog as well.
James
May 4 2009
[...] Meeting new people is the second biggest social fear (public speaking, of course, is number one). So how do you learn to overcome shyness? The same way you learn other skills – [...]
June 15 2009
[...] I was a commuter at the time). So the lesson here is that attending these events makes you a familiar face. Some people are terrible with names but most of us remember faces. So even if someone never meets [...]