Talk Nerdy to Me

Upcoming event? Here's my tips to encourage top tier networking that goes beyond the usual "who are you and what do you do?"

Before you head out the door, wear something you'll WANT to be photographed in. This helps you feel more confident and often gives others a reason to start the conversation with a compliment. Bonus points if it’s something that breaks the ice, like merch.

Make sure you bring good vibes. Assume nobody knows who you are and introduce yourself with your full name: "Hi, I'm Emily O'Connor!" with a smile that says, "come talk to me!" People will be a lot more likely to approach you if you’re not hiding in your phone or walking around looking grumpy. If you are typing away on your phone, let folks know you're taking notes or researching something and not bored and swiping on Tinder.

If you've arrived with somebody - split up! You can cover more ground between you and then later, you can regroup and swap stories. It even makes a good conversation opener: "I'm going to this talk as Sophie from work is in the workshop and we want to be able to tell the rest of the team about both tracks".

When chatting, ask questions and share a little more than just the basics, to keep the answers open.

🗣 “Have you been to this event before?”
🙋‍♂️ “No, but I’m hoping to learn about X. Know much about it?” or,
🙋‍♀️ “Yep! I’m a Principal Test Engineer and work around the corner so I come often, what do you do?”

Both of these examples allow the question asker to provide much more information beyond the question they asked, so you can skip the small talk and be more likely to find something you connect over. This way, you're opening the door to deeper conversations.

Offer to keep in touch - swap details so you can keep the conversation going. A quick note like "it was great to chat about your works AI policy" will help who's who when you're back home scrolling through your new contacts.