If You’re Short on Time at an Event, Use ‘The Walkthrough’

The following is adapted from An Introvert’s Guide to World Domination, by Nick Shelton.

Have you ever been obligated to attend an event where you know a lot of people, but you have other things to do? You don’t really want to be there, but you know you have to show up. You are there on the scene, but you want to go home and be alone because you need to recharge, but you still want to get credit for attending the event. Here’s what you do.

I present to you “the walkthrough.”

Here’s how it works: you meet the host, shake their hand, say, “Thanks for having me,” and then you walk through each room that is active, each of the areas of that event, and you make eye contact and wave to all the people you know, but you’re walking fast. You’re walking with purpose like you’re on your way to go do something.

With this technique, you don’t necessarily need to go over to the food as you normally would. You can see what they have just in case there’s something you want. Feel free to grab a little sandwich or a drink really quick, and then you point, wave, nod, and walk through the event (two times). So, you walk through each section of whatever this function is, two rounds, but you’re walking with purpose, nodding to everybody, and then…you just walk outside and go home.

I’ve done this several times.

So, you’re not networking that night; you’re just going because you need to go and you, for some reason or another, had an obligation to be at this function. The thing is, everybody sees you, everyone knows you were there, they see you’re in a hurry and you’re walking with purpose, so they just figure, “Oh, I’ll just catch up with him/her later.” But then, they get distracted, and if for some reason they look for you later, they’ll figure you are somewhere around or maybe you had to leave, and they’ll just move on.

But they remember you being there. So, when they’re talking about the function, they’re like, “Oh, yeah, Nick was there. I saw him,” and everyone will say, “Yeah, I saw him there. He was there.” But you might have been there for maybe ten minutes, and then you were gone. But everyone saw you, so you still get the credit for being there. If it’s a function with a dance floor, I’m usually good to grab a gal for one quick dance as well so then people there will remember they saw me on the dance floor.

Keep in mind, this is only good if you already know a lot of people there. And it has to be a large function. If it’s a cocktail party at someone’s house with just ten people, it’s obviously not going to work. It must be a large event, and you must already be known. It’s NOT good for you to do this if you’re not known. If you are not known, then don’t do that. You actually have to go and meet some new people. But if you’re known, it’s a great, great thing if you need to be there and need to be accounted for but have other things to do. So, that’s the walkthrough. Cheers!

For more advice on attending events when you’re short on time, you can find An Introvert’s Guide to World Domination on Amazon.

Nick Shelton, “the connected introvert,” has been fine-tuning the craft of effective, high-level social strategy and networking for twenty years. Beginning with his time in the United States Air Force, Nick learned skills that were indispensable to his journey. Coupled with extensive research and fifteen years of experience in the oil and gas industry, Nick finally “cracked the code” and developed tools that gave him the confidence to flourish in social situations. Nick has successfully built a strong, international network of friends, colleagues, and associates and continues to teach introverts how to navigate social events with ease. You can learn more about Nick — and his methods — at www.connectedintrovert.com.