A Script-Based Guide to Roadshows for Agents Who'd Rather Not Network
A lot of event advice assumes you enjoy walking up to strangers. Plenty of good agents don't — and skip roadshows entirely because the idea of working a room sounds exhausting, not exciting.
Here's the good news: working a roadshow well isn't actually about being the most outgoing person in the room. It's about having three or four lines ready so you're never standing there improvising small talk from scratch. Scripts do the work that charisma gets credit for.
Why scripts work better than "just be yourself" advice
"Just be confident" isn't useful advice to someone who finds approaching strangers draining. What actually helps is removing the improvisation — if you know exactly what you'll say when you walk up to a supplier booth, there's nothing left to feel anxious about deciding in the moment. The words are already chosen. You just have to say them.
This is also, conveniently, exactly how experienced agents who seem naturally good at this actually operate. Almost nobody is inventing their opener on the spot every time. They've just said it enough times that it stopped feeling like a script.
The opener for a supplier booth
Approaching a rep you don't know is usually the hardest part. This removes the guesswork:
"Hi, I'm [name], I work with [agency/independent], and I've got a client asking about [specific destination/trip type] — do you have a minute?"
This works because it's not a pitch and it's not small talk. It's a direct, low-pressure reason for the conversation to exist, and it gives the rep something concrete to respond to instead of an open-ended "tell me about your destination."
The line for approaching another agent
This one feels more exposed for a lot of people, because there's no obvious business reason to start talking. One honest line solves it:
"Hey, I don't think we've met — I do [your niche]. What's your focus?"
Short, true, and it hands the conversation to them immediately. Most people answer a direct question like this easily, and the exchange that follows takes care of itself from there.
The exit line, which matters more than people think
A real source of networking anxiety isn't starting conversations — it's not knowing how to leave one without it feeling abrupt. Having an exit ready removes that entirely:
"I don't want to take up more of your time — can I follow up by email next week?"
This works in every direction: with suppliers, with other agents, with a conversation that's run its natural course. It's polite, it sets up the exact follow-up this whole list has been building toward, and it gives you permission to move on without hovering awkwardly or overstaying.
What to do between conversations
Standing alone at an event can feel more visible and uncomfortable than it actually is. A simple habit fixes this: between conversations, use your phone to log the one you just had — name, what they said, one note. This isn't just good practice, it's also a completely natural, legitimate thing to be doing that removes the awkward "standing around with nothing to do" feeling while you figure out who to approach next.
"I still don't want to go"
That's a reasonable feeling, and the honest answer is: you don't have to force yourself through every event. Pick one roadshow a quarter, prepare these four lines beforehand, and give yourself permission to leave after an hour if that's genuinely enough. A short, prepared visit beats skipping events altogether, and it beats a long, anxious afternoon with no plan.
The part that actually gets easier
The scripts matter less with time, not more — the fourth or fifth time you use the supplier-booth opener, it won't feel like a script anymore, it'll just be how you start a conversation. That's not a personality change. It's repetition doing what it always does.
Next invite that lands in your inbox, don't decide whether to go based on how networking makes you feel in the abstract. Decide with four lines already written down, and see how different the room feels with nothing left to improvise.