Success For Introverts

October 26, 2009

Interview with Nancy Ancowitz author of Self-Promotion for Introverts: The Quiet Guide to Getting Ahead

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Mike Carruthers:
Introverts are an often misunderstood group. What’s an introvert?

Nancy Ancowitz:
An introvert gains her or his energy by being alone – by doing solo activities instead of more social activities. And we’re actually 50% of the population.

Nancy Ancowitz author  Self-Promotion for Introverts: The Quiet Guide to Getting Ahead

So the implications are we like to think before we speak whereas an extrovert likes to think out loud. So the key for introverts is to prepare and to practice to be better in social situations.

By nature, introverts tend to be quieter and speak less.

Just because an introvert is being quiet, doesn’t mean that she or he is being anti-social. She may be just collecting her thoughts. She may be deep in thought. And I would say that while an extrovert might enjoy having someone drop by just to say, hi. An introvert would prefer to know that that is coming in advance – and would prefer less chit-chat and would prefer more substantive conversation.

Since introverts are less likely to speak up at a meeting, Nancy’s advice…

Get on the agenda to make sure you get heard. If you’re in meetings with extroverts often it is hard to get in a word edgewise. In fact we don’t tend to like interrupt because we don’t like to be interrupted ourselves.

To hear the complete unedited interview, click here.