There’s this girl that kept asking me to hang out. There’s a beach close to my place so I said we could have a fire there. We made a nice fire, had a couple beer, and had some laid back conversation. I had a great time. The following week she wanted to do the same thing but brought her friend along. It was still fun, but I was listening a lot more. She wants to have another fire by my place and bring three or four friends. On one hand, I could use some more friends. But I’m worried I’ll sit awkwardly and not enjoy myself.
How do I approach this? I’m so introverted and terrible at mingling, but I know I need to start somewhere.
2 comments
I’d try to find common topics with the friends so that y’all can have a conversation together.
It can be a bit awkward if you’re the odd man out where everyone is talking people/places/things that you have no experience with, but hopefully they’ll be open to including you in the conversation.
There’s nothing wrong with listening, but if you feel like the conversation has been lingering on a topic that you can’t contribute to for a while, then I’d try to redirect the topic to something you can add to.
While probably unnecessary, I’ve prepared a list of conversation topics on my phone before for social events. That way if I ever run out of things to say, I can glance at my phone for inspiration. This might allow you to prepare a bit better for the event if you want to put in the effort. For the most part, girls are just like guys. They like interesting stories and humor, among other things.
I wouldn’t worry about the gender difference as much as hanging out with a bunch of new people.
Since you’re basically hosting, you can go all in on that. Like whenever you feel like the vibe’s getting awkward or that you need a moment alone to relax a bit, you can go like “who wants something to drink/eat/a blanket/something? I’ll bring it.”