Being prepared can help introverts start conversations at big conferences, says Paul Brack.

Guest contributor Paul Brack

Social media is a great tool for networking for introverted scientists.{credit}iStockphoto/thinkstock{/credit}

In the last few years, introverts have become the new geeks. In the past we were painted as miserable wallflowers. Now, thanks in large part to Susan Cain’s book Quiet and her accompanying TED talk in 2012, we’re often portrayed as the conscientious, thoughtful people who are going to quietly invent the technology needed to save the world.

Whilst the reality has of course always lain somewhere between these two extremes, there’s one thing that is true for introverts: we generally struggle with networking. Introverts find over-stimulating environments, like large groups at conferences, difficult to navigate. But that shouldn’t put an introverted scientist off from adapting their networking tools to suit their character.

At its heart, networking is about forming relationships. Some psychologists have suggested that introverted people take longer to make connections than extroverted people, as they find it more tiring. This is based on the description formulated by Katharine Cook Briggs and Isabel Briggs Myers (building on the work of Carl Jung), the developers of the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator ‘personality test’, that whereas extroverts are energised by meeting new people, introverts are drained. Continue reading →