I get this question all the time. When you are at a networking event and most of the people are involved in conversations, how do you break in without being rude?

The easy answer is watch body language. Find a pair or small group conversation you might want to become a part of. How close together are the people? If their heads are together, probably not a good one to try.

If there is some distance between them, look at how they are positioned relative to each other. Are they facing squarely? Or are they at an angle? If they are at an angle, they are consciously or subconsciously inviting someone to join them. If they are facing each other squarely, the message is don’t interrupt.

Suppose there is a particular person you want to speak with, and she’s talking to another. You can stand behind the person she’s talking to, facing her and catch her eye. If she sees you, she’ll give you some signal. Stay or go and I’ll catch up later.

Going to an event with someone can make it easier. It’s easier for two people to be welcomed into a conversation than one. And your buddy can get you invited to conversations you might not enter as easily alone.

Want to get someone to approach you? Stand alone, slightly apart from the main group and try to catch the eye of another solo person. That will usually get him or her to come over for introductions.

Yes, it’s tough if you haven’t practiced the skills. But once you have, joining a conversation is easy.

Tags: communication, Networking Events

This entry was posted on Thursday, April 1st, 2010 at 9:53 am and is filed under Networking Events. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.