Introverts (Prefer to Remain) Anonymous

Hello. My name is Jason and I am an introvert.

I won’t wait for any applause or a “Hi, Jason,” because I know that my fellow introverts are probably checking their phones and wondering when the meeting will be over. Any extroverts will just give me an encouraging pity clap, and frankly, I don’t need that.

I am standing here today to dispel a few myths about myself and others like me, in the hopes of improving extra-intro relations.

I am not your average introvert, or at least not what you expect one to look like. I don’t work in a darkened cubicle, avoiding eye contact with other human beings and animals and mumbling some unintelligible response when someone speaks to me. I don’t have any weird tics or strange habits that I’m aware of (and I’m sure my wife would tell me). I manage a group of 50 people and spend most of every day talking to them. I’m not afraid of public speaking, and have even sought out opportunities on occasion (see IgniteBoulder 7 and IgniteBoulder 11). I acted in theatre in high school and college. I even have it on good authority that I can even be charming when I want to.

People see me and think: extrovert. What they don’t understand is that extroversion isn’t about whether you can interact with people successfully. It’s about whether you prefer it. Someone else put it this…