I agree - Curiosity is definitely a key to overcoming shyness and introversion - curiosity about the world around us and curiosity about how others view it. Both of these can help us to move out of our inner-focus long enough to engage in the people and the world around us - the benefit is having more information and perspectives to ponder later on.

In my posts on the factors influencing shyness, I have focused on external factors like whether the people or situation are new to us - I hadn’t thought about internal factors such as how we are feeling or how we are looking that day! It’s an interesting factor that probably plays into it more than I had realized.

Thanks for your insightful comments! You’ve given me lots to think about!

So, when I am at a networking event, I’ll view the room and pick out somebody I feel I might be able to connect with. Then, I’ll walk up and say ‘hi’ and introduce myself. And I ask them what they do.

Now, here’s the tricky part. This is where I have to pay attention to what they say and find something in it that I want to know more about. Maybe they do something I’ve never heard of before. Or maybe they are in a niche I don’t know much about. Or maybe their business has a cute and funky name that sounds like it might have an interesting story behind it.

Then, too, there are often ways to connect what they do with what I do. If they are in a line of work that is impacted by some policy issue I’ve covered recently, there’s fruit for plenty of conversation right there.

For me, there are two keys to getting conversations going at those networking events. First, I make a point of not thinking about myself when I’m talking to somebody else. Second, I find it is much easier to accomplish that first tip if I know I’m on — I look good, I’m well rested and feeling energetic, I’m well prepared with business cards, writing implements and anything else I might need, etc.

In fact, it’s amazing how much shyness you can lose simply by knowing you are looking very attractive that day.