Marti -
Thanks again for a wonderful presentation and discussion during your October visit to the Midwest.
Throughout your talk I found myself nodding: Not off (!), but rather in agreement with several of your insights. Unlike many audience members, I was not surprised in the least when you mentioned that a surprising number of introverts are fairly successful salespeople - - - provided they are selling in a suitable 'context' (product, customer, industry, type of business relationship) for introverts.
As one of those individuals, I can vouch firsthand for many of the strategies you recommend for coping with occasions that require heavy social interaction. You finally gave name to some of the tricks I discovered independently through years of trial-and-error. Your explanation of the 'Dip In and Duck Out' technique left me chuckling as I, too, have had to learn the subtle and necessary art of the 'Cameo Appearance,' a useful ploy in many of the optional (that is to say, mandatory) gatherings that I attend as a marketing representative.
Mainly, I would like to thank you for being the first author of whom I am aware to frame the discussion of introversion in terms of 'energy management.' I believe it is the single best way for extroverts to understand the introverts in their lives and is a valuable self-management tool for those of us who are 'wired' differently than our more outgoing counterparts, and who - - - thanks to you - - - can now, without apology, call ourselves introverts.
Introverts don't withdraw: They recharge!
