A few months ago, I made the comment to a friend that I have struggled with shyness throughout my life.  Their reaction was something like, "What??!  You?!  You are one of the most outgoing people I know!"  I was literally shocked.  I have always considered myself to be shy and introverted, so it was really weird to hear this coming from someone who knew me well.  I told the story to my husband, and he said the same thing - "You are SO not introverted or shy!!"  I thought, "Wow, I guess I have everyone around me fooled." 

The truth is, I learned early on in my career that if I wanted to excel in business and in life, I had to be well networked.  As a result, over the years, I have forced myself to get out and do just that.  I can't say that I don't still struggle with the fear of meeting new people - In fact, not too long ago, I was at a networking event where I did not know a soul and had to escape to the ladies room.  I waited until I was the only one in there and literally said outloud to myself a few times in the mirror, "You can do this!  You can totally do this!" - However, that does not happen too often (thank God!), and networking has gotten much easier.  I find that if I make networking about the other person, I worry less about how I am perceived...and end up actually having a good time talking with people. 
 
When I started this blog, that same friend said that there are so many people out there that are either scared to death or do not know how to network and that I should teach a class on it.  Yeah right!   After some prodding, I ended up getting a trademark and creating a 2-hour workshop called, "Networking for Introverts" to teach some easy, low-stress, and fun ways to start down the road of becoming an expert at networking.  Look for course times and dates on www.ceslearning.com soon!  Also, in coming weeks, I will begin posting entries on many of the topics from my course.  Any and all comments are much appreciated!