Week 10: Networking While Introverted: 5 tips to make it work for you

For this week’s article, I called in an expert on introverts. Katie Rasoul is a Millennial, mom, and coach, who enjoys finding awesomeness in all areas of life. She is the Chief Awesome Officer for Team Awesome and TedX speaker with a talk titled “Uncovering the High-Achieving Introvert.” She also happens to be one of the best friends I made during my coach training with iPEC. We met for breakfast way back in 2018 and I had her walk me through her top tips for networking while introverted:?

1. Have a plan - When you are faced with a networking event, dinner party, or other activity that typically requires you to “work the room”, make sure you have a plan. What goal do you have for attending the event? Who do you want to meet? What can you learn about the other attendees in advance? Having a plan will provide you with a goal and outcome to focus on, which will alleviate your stress and anxiety and not leave you wandering aimlessly through displays of mini-hot dogs and carved meats.?
2. Connect in advance - If you know someone is attending who is #1 on your list to meet, send them an email or LinkedIn message in advance of the event. Let them know who you are and why you are looking forward to meeting them in person. This makes it less awkward when you want to work yourself into a conversation with him or her at the event.?
3. Shift your mindset - This was the game-changer for Katie. She originally thought networking was all about talking about herself, something that sends even the most open of introverts fleeing to the corners of the room. Her mindset shift was viewing networking as an opportunity to listen and ask others about themselves. Now, instead of experiencing anxiety, Katie focuses on asking the best questions possible. She said eventually the conversation partner will ask about her, which is where the next tip comes in.
4. Have your pitch down - The inevitable question in networking is “what do you do.” Prepare for this answer. Make it creative, relevant, and personal. Practice it so it comes out naturally.????
5. Find connections to bring yourself into the conversation - If asking amazing questions doesn’t get your conversation partner to flip the script on you, find natural connections in order to talk about yourself. After all, you’ve practiced your pitch, gotten up the nerve to attend, so it’s important to allow people to get to know YOU as well.?

?Here are Katie’s top day-of networking event survival tips:

• Get there early (or first). This allows you to get warmed up and allows you to interact in smaller groups to start.
• It’s OK to go to the bathroom….for 10 minutes. Collect yourself, breathe and remind yourself that YOU ARE AWESOME and YOU CAN DO THIS.

I asked Katie what she would add in our (post?) pandemic world. Here is what she added to help us stay with the current times.?

• Remember that many people may be rejoining networking for the first time in a while because of the pandemic. Lean into your strategy of asking curious questions of others, and give yourself grace when things feel a little rusty. Other people are feeling that way too, and you would no doubt be understanding of them. Give yourself the same grace as you are likely giving others.
• In her current reality, Katie is doing less. She does not have the same capacity for busy as she did over two years ago, and that's okay. She is making very intentional choices about what she attends, and what she doesn't. It frees her up to ensure she attends only those things with the most importance to her, and focuses on her mantra of doing less stuff better.

Thanks, Katie for being awesome and sharing your tips!??

Are you an introvert? I’d love to hear how you survive networking events andhow you are re-entering the networking scene post-pandemic. Comment below with what has made you successful and how these tips will help you in the future.?

I authored the original 52 Weeks of Meaningful Connections in 2018. Despite the variety of ways we are able to connect, we are lonelier now than ever. This motivated me to re-visit the entire series. In some cases, the 2018 version will stand. In others, it will be updated to reflect the reality of our new world. Don’t miss what’s coming next week and subscribe now.