1. Start small.
Your first event doesn’t need to be a 500-person conference. Find a smaller event where it will be easier to get your bearings and start conversations. Better still, go with a friend or colleague. You’ll have someone to walk in with, but agree that you won’t spend the whole event talking to each other. Use each other as a base while you build your confidence.
2. Have a plan.
Walking into a room full of strangers is much easier if you know why you’re there. Decide what you want to learn, who you’d like to meet and what a good outcome from the event would look like.
3. Arrive early.
Walking into a room with 20 people in it is considerably less intimidating than walking into one with 200. It’s also much easier to start conversations before groups have formed.
4. Remember that you don’t have to work the room.
You don’t need to speak to everyone. Two or three good conversations are worth far more than collecting 25 business cards from people you’ll never speak to again.
5. Stop worrying about being interesting. Be interested.
You don’t need a brilliant opening line. Ask a simple question, listen to the answer and be curious. Most people enjoy talking to someone who is genuinely interested in what they do.
6. Look for the open circle.
Breaking into a group can feel daunting. Look for two or three people standing in a loose formation with space for someone else to join. And when you’re already in a group, open the circle to let someone else in.
7. Don’t panic about awkward moments.
Conversations stall. Names get forgotten. You occasionally say something daft. It really doesn’t matter. The other person is almost certainly thinking far more about themselves than they are about you.
8. Have a couple of exit lines ready.
Knowing how to leave a conversation makes starting one less daunting. “It was really good to meet you. I’m going to grab a drink before the next session” is perfectly acceptable. Networking doesn’t require you to remain trapped in conversation for 40 minutes.
9. Follow up while you still remember each other.
If you’ve had a good conversation, do something with it. Connect on LinkedIn, send the article you mentioned or arrange the coffee you discussed. The value of networking rarely comes from the first conversation.
10. Keep doing it.
Networking is a skill, rather than a personality trait. You get better at it through practice. I know this because at my first networking event nearly 30 years ago, I spent much of the evening hiding in the loo. No matter how hard you find it at first, it will get easier with practice.
Be authentic: you don’t need to take on a different persona to network successfully, you just need to develop a style and approach that works for you.