EYS Interpersonal Skills Survey: “What Do You Do?”
by Laurie Wilhelm
Thanks to everyone who took the time to answer last week’s social skills survey question, When you go to a social or networking event where you don’t know anyone, you…
The breakdown of the responses are:
“Slink in and stand beside a potted plant.” Good zero response here. Why go to an event to hide when you can hide from others in the comfort of your own home?
2% introduce yourself to the first person you see
18% walk around the room and look for someone you know.
9% do a quick scan to find someone who you’d feel comfortable approaching.
43% smile and make yourself look approachable.
28% go straight for the open bar.
Going by the results, quite a number of respondents have an appreciation for an open bar and considering some events I’ve been to, I don’t blame them.
But seriously, going to the bar or ‘beverage station’ is an easy way to meet people – you can chat with someone in line, joke a bit with the bartender, and walk away with something in your hand instead of stuffing them in your pockets if you’re feeling a bit nervous. Also, just because you’re at the bar doesn’t mean you have to order a double Scotch. You can have a glass of soda water or something else non-alcoholic.
Hooray for the socially skilled, brave 2% who will introduce themselves to the first person they see! While you should make sure that that person is someone you want to network with, it takes some courage to go up to someone and introduce yourself.
Those who would “walk around the room and look for someone you know” is a start. Make sure you’re checking out others in the room as you do it – you may find a new person who you could strike up a conversation with. Once you find the person you know, be open to meet people you don’t and take advantage of the opportunity to meet new people.
“Do a quick scan to find someone who you’d feel comfortable approaching” takes some courage also because you likely don’t know them – the next step is introducing yourself. However, when you’re alone it can be easier to approach someone or a small group that is standing around the buffet or beverage station (as mentioned above) or if it’s a sit-down event, you can easily meet people at your table or those in the proximity of your seat’s row. Make sure you’ve got a short list of questions to ask them to get the conversation off the ground.
And a whopping 43% would rather look approachable and put the onus on others to come up to them. I get that – it’s hard to approach someone but once you try it a couple times it gets easier. Also, if everyone in the event was trying to look approachable then that leaves no one to do the approaching. It would be a very quiet room… It’s great to look approachable, but do it while looking for someone who is doing the same thing and go up and introduce yourself.
