I recently had the privilege of attending IBM’s #TechXchange conference 2025 in Orlando, Florida. During the conference, I realised my passion for networking with people hadn’t diminished one bit, despite working remotely for years. Even though I meet up with my colleagues in person once every few months, this was the first time I’d attended an event with more than 9,000 attendees.
Your professional advancement isn’t just shaped by what you know; it’s profoundly influenced by who you know. Networking with the right people can be the game-changer that transforms your career from stagnant to soaring. When you connect with impactful, like-minded professionals, you gain access to opportunities that never make it to job boards, insights that can’t be learned from textbooks, and mentorship that accelerates your growth exponentially.
Your network is your net worth.
Porter Gale, author and former VP of Marketing at Virgin America
For people who primarily work from home, networking in person can be challenging. Building a network of influential connections isn’t just beneficial; it’s essential for staying competitive and relevant in today’s rapidly evolving professional landscape.
In this article, I will share a few useful tips that I found helpful when networking with people at large events, face-to-face. I have grouped proven in-person networking tips every remote worker needs to master into the following seven topics.
Spontaneous Chats
This is one of the hardest skills to master, as remote workers don’t get the opportunity to have spontaneous or hallway chats when working from home. However, with careful thought and the right strategy, this can be achievable without feeling awkward.
For instance, you could walk up to someone at an event and ask whether they’re enjoying the event so far, what the most interesting session they’ve attended was, and so on. The key is to observe your surroundings and come up with a topic where you genuinely enjoy listening to others’ perspectives.
Chats Before a Workshop Begins
When you’re attending a large event, there will be breakout groups, focus groups, or workshops that delve deep into a subject. As you wait to enter such a workshop, you can talk to other people who are also waiting.
You could chat with others and find out what made them attend this particular workshop, what they’re excited about learning, and so on. Since all of you are attending the same workshop, the chance of building an impactful conversation around the topic is high.
Interacting with the Speaker During a Workshop
This is something I find difficult at times. You can interact with the speaker by asking questions related to the topic they’ve been teaching. This will not only improve your networking skills but also enhance your listening, engagement, communication, and interpretation skills.
By the way, before asking a question, always raise your hand first and wait until the speaker acknowledges you. Also, don’t come across as someone who asks questions constantly during a session, as this can disrupt the flow. Instead, speak to the speaker once the session finishes, which leads to my next topic.
Talking to the Speaker After a Workshop
Jot down some points that you’d like to discuss after the workshop, and simply walk up to the speaker and talk through those questions with them. You might be surprised to see how delighted they are to have an insightful conversation about the topic they’ve just taught.
Coffee Chats
Events usually have coffee or tea stations, and guess what—there will be people treating themselves to refreshments of their choice. You too can simply treat yourself to a refreshment whilst initiating a friendly chat with the person next to you, asking how they’re getting on with the event. This is a very straightforward way to initiate a conversation.
Pick the Right Event
It’s essential to pick the right event if you want to improve your networking skills. The more equipped you are with knowledge of the topic that the event covers, the easier it is to find like-minded people to network with.
Social Media Connections (e.g., LinkedIn)
Once you get to know the person, don’t just end the conversation there. Instead, share your social media profile or ask for theirs—for example, a LinkedIn profile if this is a professional event—to keep in touch with them and exchange valuable ideas in the future.
In a Nutshell
Improving networking skills increases your chances of advancing your professional career and enables you to get closer to inspiring and impactful people in your life. In-person networking can be challenging when you work from home on your own the majority of the time. I have outlined above a few strategies on how you can develop in-person networking skills at large events. You can also use networking to improve your active listening skills. The most important thing to remember is to be human and treat every person who crosses your path with genuine respect and authenticity. I’m curious to hear your thoughts about my networking tips, and feel free to share your comments below.
You might also be interested in my article on the top 5 advice for career growth.
🎯 Need Expert Help?
If you’re facing challenges with remote work, I offer 1:1 coaching and tailored support to help you succeed at remote setup. Whether you’re just starting out, growing as a remote contributor, leading a team, or launching a remote-first start-up, Remote Winners offers targeted 1:1 coaching to help you thrive in a distributed world. We also provide tech consultancy services—from idea-to-product guidance to cloud deployment and cybersecurity reviews—to help organisations strengthen their technology and processes.
If you are unsure where to begin, drop us a message and we’ll be in touch.
