Hi everyone, I (m19) would like to improve my social skills and figured the best way to do it, is to make it a habit or at least very common.
The problem is, my work colleagues are kind of hard to talk to, because they suddenly turn away from me, not look me in the eyes or just generally try to ignore me or cut me off mid sentence, so I do not want to practice my skills by talking to them, as it makes me feel bad about myself if I can’t hold down a convo with someone for even 3 minutes.
Could you give me tips for example where can I talk to strangers without being called a weirdo for doing so and also what are some common things that socially retarded people like me need to understand when trying to make friends with other people, whom they don’t know yet?
1 comment
Best place to practice is out in public with service people. That situation is relatively anonymous, brief, gives you instant feedback, and you’re with people who will generally be polite, while having to interact with you on some level. So, perfect set-up for practicing.
You can work on your eye contact, your greeting (enthusiastic), your smile (genuine), and also practice making a comment, offering a compliment, maybe even dropping a bit of humor. A good thing to note is the type of energy you GIVE is usually the type of energy you’ll GET. So work on bringing a higher energy level, and notice how YOU can set the tone of the interaction.
Practice this until it becomes a superpower. This will help you grow your confidence and your ability to talk to strangers. Look for people like: grocery cashiers, gym attendants, bank tellers, coffee servers, store clerks, etc.
Good luck!