Are you a bit shy, or do you just hate the pressure of networking events?

You’d be surprised but its really common, even for people who are usually super confident and even present to rooms full of people in other aspects of their business life.

Arrive early / on time / late?

For many arriving late seems the easiest option, but if you arrive late you walk into a room of established conversations, of established groups of people. If you don’t know people who are going to be there then it’s much better to arrive early, so as people arrive they have to talk to you and you build one, two or a few connections that you can also circle back to later in the event if you want to.

Body language

Don’t walk in or around slumped, head down, etc. Imagine a thread attached to your chin, as if you’re a puppet being held up by it. As you walk in and throughout the event, the thread is pulling your chin up. Walk in with a confident presence, confident stance and people will notice you. They’ll subconsciously feel there is something interesting about you.