How to politely become part of a group

Any protracted side conversation can be very disconcerting to the speaker. You're trying to fit in without being a distraction. Introduce yourself, join the group, and turn to the speaker giving her your full attention.

I don't believe this... sod's law! I just got home from a conference today where I was the only representative from my organisation and I didn't know anyone. There were over 1000 people there so I had to be brave and join groups, introduce myself to strangers, etc. Despite being nervous I had a good time and added some people to my network (need to add them to my outlook tasks this evening).

I'm now going to listen to this podcast (if only it was out on Friday!) and see how well I fared and what I could have done better. At least it's here for my next one! Thanks ;)

Wow... I've just listened to the podcast - great stuff.

It seems I was lucky with people being nice to me as thinking back on it I actually always approached people from their left. Also, I didn't touch anyone on the shoulder blade - though I do actually recall someone doing that to me to get my attention (and it worked). I was inconsistent on the handshakes depending on my gut reaction to people. Some I did put my hand out and introduce myself. Other times I saved the handshake until the end of the conversation before moving on.

I certainly wish I had had this before those multiple drink receptions over the course of the 3 days as I suspect I would have talked to many more people. Always next year - thank you again!

I tried this yesterday at a corporate event and it worked really well!

I need to work on my technique. My entry into the group caused the group to break up. A group of 5 became 6 when I joined, but almost immediately split into 3 groups of 2.

Regardless, joining in a conversation was infinitely better than wandering around a gathering thinking "Hmmm... I don't know anyone here."

Thanks for providing this info!