{"id":175301,"date":"2023-02-22T10:06:24","date_gmt":"2023-02-22T16:06:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/?p=175301"},"modified":"2026-09-07T15:48:28","modified_gmt":"2026-09-07T20:48:28","slug":"2-hour-cocktail-party","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/social\/social-skills\/2-hour-cocktail-party\/","title":{"rendered":"Podcast #874: Throw a 2-Hour Cocktail Party That Can Change Your Life"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>When Nick Gray moved to New York City, he was a shy introvert with few friends. But he wanted to build up his social network. So he started throwing cocktail parties to meet people. These parties changed his life, and he thinks they can change yours, too.<\/p>\n<p>Nick knows what you&#8217;re thinking: you don&#8217;t throw parties, and hosting them is simply not for you. But, he would encourage you not to tune out. He&#8217;s got a great case for why you should give this idea a try, and just as he does in his book \u2014 <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3lZq2qX\"><em>The 2-Hour Cocktail Party: How to Build Big Relationships with Small Gatherings<\/em><\/a> \u2014 Nick is going to lay out exactly how to throw a party that&#8217;s low stakes and low effort, but will be highly successful in helping you build all kinds of connections.<\/p>\n<p>Today on the show, Nick shares what he&#8217;s learned from throwing hundreds of parties and refining his hosting technique to a T. He explains why cocktail parties are better than dinner parties (and don&#8217;t have to involve actual cocktails), the best night of the week to throw a party, why the party should only be two hours long and have a firm end time, how many people to invite, and who to invite when you don&#8217;t yet have any friends. And he explains why he&#8217;s a big fan of two things you might be hesitant about \u2014 name tags and icebreakers \u2014 and why two of his favorite things to include in a party are grapes and a harmonica.<\/p>\n<h2>&nbsp;<\/h2>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>When Nick Gray moved to New York City, he was a shy introvert with few friends. But he wanted to build up his social network. So he started throwing cocktail parties to meet people. These parties changed his life, and he thinks they can change yours, too. Nick knows what you&#8217;re thinking: you don&#8217;t throw [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":194832,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[156,42379,42293],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-175301","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-podcast","category-social","category-social-skills"],"featured_image_urls":{"large":"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/874-538x280.png","medium_large":"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/874-768x432.png","aom":"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/874-372x230.png","reactor-320":"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/874-320x180.png","reactor-640":"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/874-640x360.png"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v28.4 (Yoast SEO v28.4) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Podcast #874: Throw a 2-Hour Cocktail Party That Can Change Your Life | The Art of Manliness<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/social\/social-skills\/2-hour-cocktail-party\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Podcast #874: Throw a 2-Hour Cocktail Party That Can Change Your Life | The Art of Manliness\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"When Nick Gray moved to New York City, he was a shy introvert with few friends. But he wanted to build up his social network. So he started throwing cocktail parties to meet people. These parties changed his life, and he thinks they can change yours, too. 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