Every now and then I’ll get into a conversation about introverts and extroverts. People sometimes think I’m kidding when I say I’m an introvert. Sometimes it’s because they’ve seen me speaking before a roomful of people, or acting goofy to get a laugh.
When I first took the Myers Briggs test, I was right on the borderline between introvert and extrovert. The last time I took it online I had moved a bit to the E side, but not by much.
I’m thinking about this because I’ve spoken at two conferences in the last week, and that always gets me thinking about human interactions and my reactions to them. Also, my friend Emily just posted a link to a post by Jerry Brito called Top Ten Myths About Introverts. Not everything in that post applies to me, but a lot of it does.
I hate small talk, for instance. I would much rather someone walked up to me at a cocktail party and said, “Tell me what your first decree would be if you became emperor,” rather than, “So, did you see the game?” And it’s true, as Brito points out, that if you get me talking about something I’m interested in, I won’t shut up for days.
Years ago I heard a description of the difference that made sense to me. Extroverts recharge their batteries by being around other people; introverts do it by being alone. That is definitely true for me. I love going to conferences, client meetings, parties and other intensely social events. But when I hit a wall, I need to get the hell out and be by myself for a while.
I suspect a lot of the people we see on the podium at conferences feel the same way. I know I’ve had similar conversations with people I’ve met on the speaker circuit.
How about you? How do you recharge your batteries? Alone or in groups?
image by Malulux