With June kicking off the event season, this blog topic came to mind. As a natural introvert, events always come with a bit of anxiety for me, so hopefully, these tips will help others too. As I delved into this topic, I found some fantastic resources. Debbie Gardner and Jessica Hyde shared great networking advice in their podcast on YouTube, which I highly recommend for additional perspectives.

It’s important to remember that not all introverts are alike

Creating a networking strategy for an event begins with understanding your own personality. If you haven’t yet, taking a personality test such as the Myers-Briggs can provide fascinating insights into your inherent ‘wiring.’ While I knew I was an introvert, exploring deeper into my personality type uncovered that I was a different type than I expected.

Discovering I was more of a balanced personality type, leaning slightly more towards introversion, it helped me to adjust my approach to navigating events.

Networking with Purpose

To better navigate networking events, I began to “gamify” the experience, which helped to engage my more extroverted side. Setting objectives, such as aiming to speak with a certain number of people or remembering a few new names, effectively encouraged me to break out of my introverted shell. Although some anxiety remained, having a clear focus significantly helped to calm those feelings.

Being Kind is always a reward

Shoutout to the movie Mean Girls, don’t be a Ragina George! There’s always time to be kind, whether it’s a simple hello at an event or a quick chat with a vendor. Take those small moments to make someone else’s day a little brighter. When someone reaches out to introduce themselves or even likes and comments on your social media post, always give back the affirmation they deserve. You’re never too busy to show kindness; it’s what makes us human. It truly saddens me to see ‘popular’ groups form at conferences or within our industry. We’re all here doing similar work, and that kind of exclusivity has no place in professional settings. Your follower count or job title doesn’t matter; make the effort to be nice, talk to the quiet ones, and offer some genuine kindness.

Do some advanced research

If you want to meet someone specific at an event, whether you’re an attendee or speaker, do some research beforehand. As an investigator, you’re good at this, so take a little time to find something personal to chat with them about. For example, I recently saw Stacy Eldridge at IACIS and didn’t know about her new podcast. After listening to it, I now have more to talk about next time we meet in person. A little bit of research makes it much easier for an introvert to start a conversation with some ready topics.

Follow Up with a goal

Meeting new people can be overwhelming, but it’s important to make those connections count. Having a follow-up plan after an event helps you decide what you want from the new connection. Whether it’s career advice, mentorship, or just finding people with similar interests, set a goal and follow up with it in mind. Follow-ups should be a combination of connecting on social media like LinkedIn and sending an email if you got their card. As an introvert-dominant ambivert, I’d never call, but that’s just because it gives me anxiety. 😉

I’m excited for the new conference season and quietly meeting new people in the networking hall, possibly in a corner. Be sure to say hello! Starting a conversation is often the toughest part for introverts. Most of us are great conversationalists once you get us going!

Join us at PFIC 2025 our events are all virtual and a great way to jump into networking without having anxiety. Registration is free and there are two sessions left in 2025 you can join.