Ideas
Hosting
Make your party easier for guests who get anxious
Lots of people feel nervous before a party, especially one where they won’t know many people. Answering a few questions ahead of time takes most of the worry away, and it helps everyone else too.
Say what to expect
- When it starts, when people usually arrive, and roughly when it wraps up. Knowing it’s fine to leave at 10 makes people more relaxed about coming.
- Inside, outside or both, so nobody shows up dressed for the wrong party.
- About how many people, and who they’ll know. Know before you go can show first names.
- A full dinner or snacks, so people know whether to eat first, and whether there are good alcohol-free drinks.
Make arriving easy
- Parking, which door, any gate or buzzer code. Arriving is the hardest part for a nervous guest.
- Have someone greet people at the door and take coats.
- Hand everyone a drink and an introduction, with a detail they can talk about.
Leave room to breathe
- A quieter room someone can step into for a minute, and say so ahead of time.
- Don’t make anyone perform or speak to the room. Questions on place cards beat a go-around.
- Say it once, clearly, and let it be. Camena shows it on the Get-ready page, so nobody has to ask.