TJ Walker explains how to be the employee managers want at events: ask open questions, listen more than you talk, don't check your phone while someone's speaking, and know when to move on. Excessive drinking or monopolizing conversations gets you left off the invite list next time.
Chapters
Ultimize. Here's something you can use immediately at your next event. When you meet someone new, don't start talking about yourself. Start with a simple question tied to the situation. So what brought you to the event? What are you hoping to get out of today? That one move instantly makes the interaction easier because conferences and networking events are not about delivering a perfect introduction. They're about making the other person feel comfortable talking to you. And this is where a lot of people quietly hurt themselves. Let me give you a specific scenario. You're standing at a company booth with your manager. A potential client walks up. One person jumps in immediately. Hi, we're a full-service firm and we specialize in blah blah blah. They go on into a long explanation. The other person says, welcome, what are you working on these days? Short, simple, focused on the other person. Who makes the interaction feel easier? Who makes the client feel more comfortable? That's the person your manager notices. Now, here's another situation. You're introduced to someone senior. You panic slightly and start talking too much. You explain your role, your background, your projects, all in one breath. You think you're making a good impression. What the other person experiences is overload. Now compare that to this: Nice to meet you. I'm working on our pricing team right now. How about you? Then you listen. That's better etiquette. Now let's talk about something that really matters: being safe to bring. This is the question in your manager's mind: If I take this person to a conference, a client meeting, or a networking event, Will I be able to relax, or is there a chance they're going to embarrass me? Well, I have to watch them. Here are the exact behaviors people look for: you don't interrupt conversations, you don't check your phone while someone else is speaking, you don't abandon the person you're with the moment someone more important walks by, you don't monopolize someone's time when others are waiting to speak with them. Let me give you a real example. You're talking to a potential client. After about a minute, you see someone more senior walk by. You immediately turn your body and attention away, even slightly. The person you're talking to feels it instantly. They feel less important. That's a mistake. Now compare that to finishing the interaction properly. Great talking with you. I don't want to keep you from meeting others, but I'd love to follow up. Now you exit cleanly. That feels respectful. Here's another situation. You're at a networking event. You find one person you're comfortable with and you stay with them for 45 minutes. That might feel safe, but it signals something else. You're not engaging. You're not representing your team effectively. A better approach is to have shorter, focused conversations, a few minutes, then move on politely. Really enjoyed this. I'm going to meet a few more people, but let's stay in touch. That shows awareness. Now here's where etiquette becomes very real. There have been situations where employees were taken to conferences or client events and behaved in ways that made senior leaders uncomfortable. Perhaps drinking too much, saying inappropriate things, treating the event like a social outing instead of a professional setting. And the result wasn't a warning, it was a decision. This person is not someone I can bring again. That's the risk, and it happens more often than people think. So the goal is simple: be the person who makes events easier. The person who represents the organization well, the person who doesn't create any awkward moments. Because once your manager feels that about you, they'll bring you into more and more important situations, and that's when real opportunities happen for you.
