72. How Not to Get Overwhelmed at In-Person Events as an Introvert and HSP

Signed up for an all-day conference, but getting cold feet at the thought of spending 9-5 in a crowded, unfamiliar space with strangers?

You're not alone.

Learn how to honour your needs when attending all-day conferences and workshops so you can fully participate and learn without feeling overwhelmed and overstimulated.

Highlights:

• Time your arrival and seating.

• Take regular movement breaks.

• How hydration supports focus.

• Let nature calm your nervous system.

• Pack appropriate snacks. 

• Use earphones to create a personal bubble of calm.

• Set realistic social expectations.

Call to Action:

If you enjoyed this episode, please rate and review The Quiet Warrior Podcast on your listening app. Your support helps inspire more introverts and quiet achievers in our communities.

Connect with Serena:

Subscribe to The Visible Introvert newsletter for weekly tips and stories of how to amplify your quiet strengths without having to act extroverted.

Join me on LinkedIn where I actively share empowering ways to show up professionally and socially as my highest introverted self.

This episode was edited by Aura House Productions

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
Hi, I'm Serena Loh.
If you're used to hearing thatintroverts are shy, anxious,
antisocial and lack goodcommunication and leadership
skills, then this podcast is foryou.
You're about to fall in lovewith the calm, introspective and
profound person that you are.
Discover what's fun, unique andpowerful about being an

(00:22):
introvert, and how to make theelegant transition from quiet
achiever to quiet warrior inyour life and work anytime you
want, in more ways than youimagined possible.
Welcome, welcome to the QuietWarrior podcast.
Today we're talking aboutin-person events and how to

(00:45):
manage them as an introvert anda highly sensitive person.
So you may be required toattend a work conference, or you
signed up to a personaldevelopment workshop on a topic
you're really interested in andyou're excited about it.
The speaker is someone you lookup to.
You've been studying this topicfor some time.

(01:07):
You want to learn more.
So you've paid the money,you've booked a ticket, you've
cleared your schedule.
Now all you need to do is toshow up.
But as the day gets closer, youfind yourself not quite so
enthusiastic as when you firstclicked that payment button.
Suddenly, you're thinking howdo I get there?

(01:29):
How long will I be there?
How am I going to manage myselffrom hour to hour for a whole
day conference that starts at 9in the morning and finishes at 5
in the evening, and it may befor one day, it may be for two
days, but how am I going to cope?

(01:51):
So recently I had theopportunity to attend a two-day
conference with Dr Bessel vander Kolk, author of the Body
Keeps the Score.
He was here in Melbourne andthat was exactly my story.
I had booked the ticket,cleared my schedule, was really
looking forward to it months inadvance, and then, as the day
got closer, I got nervous.

(02:11):
So here's what I did.
The first thing I did was toarrive early each day, so I had
plenty of time to familiarizemyself with the venue and the
layout.
Look for the very importantbathrooms.
And the thing I did differentlythis time was to find a seat at
the end of the row for easyexits.

(02:33):
Now you might be thinking whyeasy exits?
Why are they important?
One thing I've noticed is thatwhen I am in a crowded space and
it goes suddenly quiet,everyone's paying attention to
the speaker.
Sometimes I get this feeling ofoppression, like things are
closing in on me.
It could be the topic itselfthat's heavy, it could just be

(02:56):
my current emotional state, butsomething in me feels like it's
triggered and wants to get away.
Feels like it's triggered andwants to get away, and so for
moments like that, which Icannot plan for, I need a quick
way to get out of the roomwithout stepping over other
people and drawing attention tomyself or distracting someone.
So that's why I see to myselfat the end of a row, and it was

(03:21):
a good thing I did, becausethere was one particular session
where we were asked to clearour throats or say our name or
something, and all of a sudden Ifound myself choking and I
couldn't stop.
I just kept coughing, and so itwas a good thing I was seated
at the end of a row and couldquickly leave the room.

(03:41):
So that's the first thing I didto arrive early so I can
strategize where I sit.
The second thing I did was thatat every break time, I went for
a walk to re-stimulate my bloodcirculation after sitting for
hours.
Now, when I was in my 20s and30s, this didn't bother me at
all.

(04:01):
I could sit for hours and notregister anything, but I've
noticed, especially now inperimenopause, that my blood
circulation has been reallyaffected, and so it's important
for me to get up and move.
The third thing I did was tostay hydrated, because
dehydration affects yourcognitive capacity.
It really does affect the brain, and so I kept my drink bottle

(04:25):
topped up.
Every break time I would go andtop it up a little bit more,
drink some more, and so on.
The fourth thing I did was tomake sure I went out in nature.
So I took advantage of wherethe venue was being located in
the city, close to a river, lotsof trees around, and during the

(04:46):
lunch break I went out, soakedin that sunshine, looked at the
birds, stood by the water, justwatched those waves going up and
down and in and out, and toppedup my vitamin D.
Now a lot of women have gotvitamin D deficiency and that's
going to affect our bones andjoints and our health generally

(05:06):
as we get older.
So something to think about howcan you incorporate nature and
reconnect while you're out andabout and reconnect while you're
out and about?
Another thing I did was to makesure I packed lots of snacks.
This was for my blood sugarlevel.
Now.
I hadn't paid attention toblood sugar levels before I had
perimenopause, but now I'm veryaware that a drop in blood sugar

(05:29):
can affect my concentration.
It can make me dizzy.
Even so, I packed nuts, Ipacked dark chocolate, I packed
dates as a quick way to givemyself that little boost.
Another thing I did was to makesure I had my earphones with me
and to plug into my favoriteplaylist during breaks.

(05:52):
So, instead of taking in otherpeople's conversations and all
the noise and the chaos aroundme, I tuned out and into my own
little bubble of positive energymusic, and that kept my mood
high.
And finally, you might bethinking what about talking to
people?
That's the thing we all fear,isn't it?
Being in a space where we don'tknow anyone and then you have

(06:15):
to talk to people that you don'tknow.
Well, I spoke to a total ofthree new people over two days.
That's not a lot, is it?
But to me, I had a great timeand I didn't feel drained.
I think those conversationsprobably lasted 30 seconds each
and they were very by-the-waytype of conversations.

(06:35):
I didn't go out of my way totalk to people because I had
decided that I was there tolearn and I wanted that time for
myself.
It's a kind oflooking-after-myself time.
It's a time of replenishing,doing the things that my inner
sage archetype loves, which islearning for the sake of
learning, and I didn't feel Ihad capacity for socializing and

(06:59):
so I didn't.
So I wonder which of these tipsis helpful for you.
I look forward to hearing fromyou, and remember to rate and
review this podcast so that theQuiet Warrior podcast can get in
front of more introverts aroundthe world.
See you on the next episode.
I'm so grateful that you'rehere today If you found this

(07:19):
content valuable.
See you on the next episode.