I hate introducing myself to people. No surprise there. It feels awkward, and there is always the fear of rejection. On the other hand, if someone comes up to me, I’m good with it. I feel like I’m way better at responding than initiating but, how do you get other people to approach you? On to that question in a moment.
SXSWi starts this week and I’m going. Several months ago, I decided that I needed to attend, which I still believe. Unfortunately, I’ve only met about four people who will be there, out of about 10,000. And I don’t know any of them well. So, now I have to figure out how to meet people so that I don’t decide to spend most of my time outside of workshops inside my hotel room.
How am I going to meet people without introducing myself? I’ve decided to conduct an experiment on myself and those around me. Want to see what happens when I wear a t-shirt that says ‘I’m shy. Please, come talk to me. Thank you.’? Me too. So, I’ve got several font and color selections that I’m going to wear while at SXSWi and we’ll see what happens.
If the most disquieting thing I have to do is put on a t-shirt and walk into a room, I think I’ll make it.
Tags: Experiment, get out there, meeting people, shy
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