Socializing Meeting large groups of new people at once

[BarryS1]

I temporarily moved, so meeting groups of new people is a regular occurrence. I’ve always struggled with this concept, but just got an idea for solving the problem. Assume I am the new person in the group and everyone else knows one another at a social gathering.

Here are the situations:
-Entering a room and seeing a large group of new people looking at you
-Leaving a social gathering and the new people looking at you to say goodbye

Looking at others, I found a trend:
-For problem one, the new person will introduce themselves by shaking hands with the nearest people and waving at those far away.
-For problem two, the new person will say goodbye by shaking hands with the most important people and waving at those far away.

I used to shake hands with every new person when entering and leaving a social gathering. I realized later that it was unnecessary because I forgot most people’s names right away. Also, it feels clumsy going through a crowd of people like an assembly line. I feel it is better to remember the most important people’s name in the room instead of everyone.

I work in an office environment and everyone shakes hands when meeting new people, but say goodbye when leaving.


I would like to hear what others think about this. What does everyone else do?

 

[Edd--19]

I like this, I'm new to meeting large groups so I'l give this a go, possibly tonight if many are out... I'll let you know how it goes, in this thread. It seems like a strong way to interact with an entire group at once. Maybe as everyone immediately meets you everyone is aware that you are going to talk to them at some point. You know everything'll go well. I'll give it a test... Lots have gone home for summer; so a small sample, if any... Edd

 

[Edd--19]

Just arrived home. It works really well, I noticed that by announcing myself to the group people were much warmer; I wasn't some other guy trying hard to integrate myself in. Handshaking builds investment on everyone's part, displaying comfort and building a little familarity.

I talked to around 10-15 groups of people after about 7 ish practice stops to build social momentum. Social momentum helps a ton, couldn't have managed otherwise diving into the deep end. People were surprisingly friendly when greeted this way, especially smiling, and no one ignored me.

This method requires a strong follow up. I found that talking to the people closest was more conducive and then immediately planting myself. In some interactions I wasn't as dominant and got stuck in my head a little in the larger groups but for a first try at it I liked it. Certainly suits my style.

I got a couple of girls interested in me right away, one was heavily attracted, so I flirted with her a little, touched her and did some deep diving. It worked well, does require a more assertive touch... that'll come with experience. All in all good technique.

 

[BarryS1]

Just arrived home. It works really well, I noticed that by announcing myself to the group people were much warmer; I wasn't some other guy trying hard to integrate myself in. Handshaking builds investment on everyone's part, displaying comfort and building a little familarity.

Totally agree, I'm glad it worked well for you too. Going out the last couple weeks looking around, I have not seen anyone work a room and shake hands with every single new person at once (maybe if in a professional environment).

 

[Seven heldens]

In large social groups here a few things that I found to actually help: 1)When talking to people, be warm and smile. You don`t have to suck up, but be warm and see how they react. 2)Speak to everyone equally. This means, it can be a super hot girl, a super ugly girl, a nerdy guy, a super cool guy, you respect and speak to everyone the same. 3)When shaking hands, if close to the person, introduce yourself and offer to shake their hand. When leaving, you can shake the hands of the people that you were closest with, and also with the people that seem to want to shake your hand, remember tip number 1. I tried these things in social settings and they worked for me so maybe they will for you too!