Big
conferences in any branch are exciting, filled with business possibilities and
networking opportunities. However, if you are an introvert these conferences can be overwhelming,
exhausting and quite damaging to your self-worth and overall feeling of social
competence .
If
your natural instinct is to stay by yourself, enjoy your own company and not
really be the center of a conversation, crowds and networking functions are
naturally extremely stressful for you.
However,
there are some basic tips you can use to survive any conference as an
introvert.
Make time for breaks
Despite
common reactions, it is not rude to give yourself some space in between
seminars and networking occasions. Get away from the crowd, go and drink a
coffee, read part of a book or simply sit in the sun in order to return to your
inner happy place. These little moments of solitude will recharge your
batteries and you will be able to brace yourself for some more interactions
with colleagues or unknown people.
Have conversation points ready
Networking
can be especially tricky when you have no idea what to talk about. A good way
to diminish the dread of talking to people is to have conversation points
prepared before you even have the chance to say hello to a single person.
When
brainstorming about topics to mention in interactions, you can think of
anything from talking about your business branch to pets, children or hobbies.
However,
the best kept secret in that regard is to ask lots of questions. People love to
talk about themselves. So, if you are not ready to share about your own life
and work, ask others what they are doing, what moves them and what they are
currently inspired by. Those few questions alone will keep the conversation
going for quite some time and you hardly have to tap into your own life.
Challenge yourself
I
always like to make difficult situations part of a game as I am a highly
competitive person. And once challenged, I cannot help but do everything within
my power to win. So, I usually set goals like walking up to five unique people
in one day and start a conversation with them.
Or
I promise to myself that I will not back out of a conversation after only
five minutes and instead keep at it for at least half an hour. I have also
recently randomly sent out a tweet asking fellow attendees of a conference
about their plans for the evening and then had dinner with a few amazing girls
whom I’d never met before.
These
challenges help to grow your self-confidence and they hold you
accountable at the same time.
Remember the mantra: Nobody belongs here more
than me.
You
do not have to be an extrovert to be successful or allowed to take part in
discussions. You can be present, but listen more than you put in. You can be
part of a group, but be quiet. It is not rude, it is your personality. Remind
yourself of this fact and you will see how you relax more and more throughout
difficult and nerve-wrecking situations.
Practice
Practice,
practice, practice. The more often you go to a conference, the better you will
get at it. You will notice when you need a break. You will feel when your
batteries need to be recharged and you will be able to handle situations where
you`d once felt uncomfortable and on the verge of unraveling.
Your
interactions will get more fluent, your hesitations to walk up to people and
start a conversation will fade away and you will slowly start to really enjoy
being part of a huge group of attendees.
These
simple steps show that conferences can be fun, invigorating and exceptionally
motivating, even for introverts.
http://www.lifehack.org/articles/communication/how-to-survive-big-conferences-as-an-introvert.html
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