Pretty much as the title says. Whenever I come into a social situation with anyone new it feels like I become a shell of a person. My mind can’t come up with anything but blank, auto-pilot responses. Even when I do have a thought or response I want to express, I can’t articulate it for the life of me.
Starting college recently has been helping a bit, but its still been hard to make meaningful connections. I just want to be able to be authentically me around new people :/ Any advice?
2 comments
Try brainstorming different ways to start a conversation. These can be as goofy as you like. As long as you are not creepy or racist or whatever, people don’t really have a reason to be offended at you. Maybe bring a prop along or something to make the conversation even more intersting.
Also, observe how other’s articulate their thoughts, and try to imitate them. Yeah you might have to do a little bit of acting, but that’s okay, acting is fun! (imo anyways). Once you get past the first five or ten sentences or so, it should become clear by peoples body language (is it open or closed), and they way they are speaking (are they confidently speaking or are they mumbling a bit) whether they want to continue the conversation or not.
https://www.theodysseyonline.com/conversation-starters-to-make-friends
Here’s a link to 10 conversation starters to get you going. There is so much content available out there for just this issue. Why? Because many others struggle with this exact same issue! Possibly even the person you were trying to talk to! Don’t feel alone, you’re not.
https://www.amazon.ca/How-Talk-Anyone-Attract-Captivate/dp/B09ZHXSVTT/ref=asc_df_B09ZHXSVTT?nodl=1&tag=googlemobshop-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=579081102630&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=14879049464728809045&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=m&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9001601&hvtargid=pla-1660388394166&psc=1&dplnkId=7f865b54-3d6a-4017-a4ec-6ca53ba8c958