Guest author Samantha Frontera is the founder and CEO of Exclusive PR, a boutique public relations agency in Chicago that specializes in PR strategy, event planning, social media and more.
If you’re shy, the idea of networking might make your stomach flip. Walking up to a random stranger is really intimidating, especially when you’re trying to make a business connection. However, it doesn’t have to be as scary as it seems!
Successful Career Networking for Shy People
If you’re an introvert who is attending a networking event, here are some tips to help you overcome your networking anxiety and make connections that will help your career prosper.
Research Who’s Going
Before heading to an event, check out who else is going to be there. You want to do this for a few reasons. The first reason is to make sure that the people attending are relevant to your career interests and will actually be worth speaking with. The second reason is to have a little background on people so you can prepare yourself on topics that might get brought up.
If you have a lot of similarities with someone, you’ll know exactly what to bring up when you meet them in person. Going into the event prepared will help you be confident when introducing yourself to people.
Brainstorm Some Questions Ahead of Time
Let’s face it, not every conversation at a networking event is going to be fantastic. Some people naturally have chemistry and can hit it off immediately, while some people can be nervous or awkward at first. Even if you’ve done your research on the people attending the event, you’ll probably bump into some unfamiliar faces. When you’re not exactly sure what to talk about, it’s best to have a list of go-to questions that will help you get out of any awkward silences.
An obvious and important first question is “what do you do?” Sometimes after that, the conversation will take off on its own, but sometimes you’ll need some help. Questions about their career, their education, their hometown, or a simple “what brings you to this event?” can help a lot, so keep some questions in your back pocket.
In general, people tend to like to talk about themselves. Giving people the opportunity to tell you about themselves will keep them engaged in conversation and show that you are interested in what they do.
Prepare Your “Elevator Speech”
As introverts, we are known to be the listeners of the group, not the talkers. However, you should be prepared to introduce yourself and to answer that dreaded phrase, “So tell me about yourself.” You could be the most interesting person in the world but as soon as you hear those words, you can barely remember your name. If you need to practice, write out a few bullet points including the highlights of your career or your passions. Look at yourself in the mirror and practice it until you can confidently summarize yourself in just a few sentences.
By preparing your elevator speech – a short description of yourself you could say in a quick encounter with someone in an elevator – you will be ready to introduce yourself to new people in a simple and effective manner.
Approach Pairs or Groups of People
Who says you have to network alone? Bringing a friend could be that push you need to talk to other people. Friends also allow you to ask for help if you are struggling to talk to others or to give advice on how you can improve your networking skills and connect better with the next person, or people you meet.
Networking doesn’t have to feel like an interview. Having a close friend that makes you comfortable will make things a lot easier, and you can introduce yourself to people in pairs. Group conversations are a lot more casual and the more people there are, the less likely it is that there will be an awkward silence. Most group conversations break off into smaller one-on-one interactions once you start to get comfortable talking to one another.
If you can’t bring a friend to your upcoming networking event, approach groups of people. Walking up to a pair of people and joining in on their conversation casually can be a lot less stressful than talking to a new person individually. Groups of people also tend to be more welcoming and will allow you to build multiple connections at once.
Follow Up
Be sure to ask for people’s business cards during the networking event, so you don’t forget anyone and you can have all of their information to contact them after. Make a list of all of these people and then send them a LinkedIn request or an email with a personalized message asking to stay in touch.
Be sure to reach out every so often with comments, to share work-related information, or simply to see how they are! And always remember, even if you don’t think your career path might cross someone else’s right now, they could in the future, so stay in touch and maintain that positive connection.
More Networking Advice: 5 Tips for Introverts Who Want to Rock That Networking Event
Samantha Frontera is a media expert with several years of experience in broadcast journalism and public relations, allowing her to become an excellent communicator and storyteller. Her PR experience has given her B2B and B2C verticals, both on a local and national level. Samantha opened her own agency three years ago and is the CEO and founder of Exclusive PR, a boutique public relations agency in Chicago. For more information on Exclusive PR, visit https://www.exclusive-pr.com/.
