Haveo · Networking when you are ADHD, autistic or dyslexic
Sensory overload at a networking event
Find the quiet place before you need it, not during. Walk the venue in the first five minutes and locate one exit you can use without explaining yourself. Loop earplugs take the edge off the noise without taking the conversation with it.
Do the reconnaissance first
In the first five minutes, find the corridor, the stairwell or the bit of street outside. Knowing it exists changes the whole evening even if you never use it.
Also note where it is quietest inside. Most rooms have one, usually away from the bar and the speakers.
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What actually helps in the room
- Filtered earplugs. They cut the volume, not the speech. Most people cannot tell you are wearing them.
- Stand at the edge. The middle of a room is the loudest point and the one with most movement in your vision.
- Face away from the speakers and the door. Less to track.
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Break before you need one
Five minutes outside at a decided point in the evening is worth far more than twenty minutes after it has already tipped.
Put it in your plan at the start, like the end time. A break you have to justify to yourself is one you will not take.
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If it has already tipped
Leave the room now, without explaining. Then make your out-breath longer than your in-breath for two minutes.
Decide whether to go back only once you are outside. Deciding while still in the noise is deciding with the thing that caused it.
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Choosing events at all
Workshops, small meetups and anything with a shared activity are far easier than a mixer in a bar. The activity carries the conversation and the room is usually quieter.
Volunteering at an event gives you a role, a reason to move, and permission to be in the quiet parts of the venue.
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Rehearse it before you walk in.
Haveo builds your intro, lets you practice out loud with an AI coach, and keeps your notes one tap away in the room. Free on iPhone and iPad.
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