Haveo · How to prepare for a networking event when you have social anxiety
What to bring to a networking event
A charged phone, something to hold, and your two prepared questions. The thing most people forget is a way to take a note — without it every conversation has to survive in your memory until you get home, and none of them do.
The short list
- A charged phone. Notes, the event app, the taxi home, and a legitimate thing to look at if you need thirty seconds.
- Your two questions and your opening line. In your notes app, said out loud once before you left.
- Cards, if you have them. Ten is plenty. If you do not have them, it matters much less than it used to.
- Filtered earplugs, if noise is a problem for you. They cut the volume without cutting the speech.
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What never gets used
- Printed résumés at a general networking event — different from a career fair, where they are the currency.
- A laptop bag. It is one more thing to manage and there is nowhere to put it down.
- A folder of anything. If it needs a folder, it is a meeting, not an event.
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Wear something with pockets
You will be holding a drink. Anything that needs two hands is a problem you have created for yourself.
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Eat before you go
Not something to bring, but the one that changes the first hour most. Event food arrives late, is impossible to eat standing up, and there is never enough of it.
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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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