Have you ever found yourself thinking about social skills? What are social skills? What do I do with them? How can I improve my social skills and be more social?
First, I will invite you to slip into something more comfortable.
What are social skills?
Social skills are everything that englobes interaction and communication, be it verbally or through our body language. The way we ask the waiter to change our order because something was wrong with the food? Also, about social skills. Social skills can take you a long way. They can help you get a free dessert or a waiter that will never want to see you again.
The way we express our intentions makes all the difference in how other people see us and the best thing about social skills is that they can always be practised and learnt. I will help you understand a bit more about them in 5 more paragraphs :P
Let’s begin with this: acquiring social skills is all about being a social person. Huh, but what does that mean? Well, it means that we all share common environments and tools of communication, however, with different people. And that requires us a bit of flexibility + the ability to perceive the different minds around us to live in harmony with our fellas and connect with people in a real way.
Take the job market as an example. People with a high ability to communicate and being sociable are preferable to the ones that are not so good at communicating. Most of the time in the job market social skills are also translated into our ability to work in a team. Again, all about being social!
How to improve your social skills?
Now, I will share some tips that will help you to be more social.
1. Observe other people
You can start anytime, anywhere. But to make it easy for you, let’s start with your work environment. Take 1 to 5 minutes to observe the people around you. Is there anyone who is struggling with a task and you think you could be of help? Great! You accomplished the main goal of a socially skilled person, which is to be able to perceive other people around you. What about helping them out, now? Go and put your social side in practice ;) Even in a meeting, try to listen attentively to what your colleagues have to say, put yourself in their shoes. You do not have to actively participate in their talk, just take their experiences as if they were yours.
These small steps can be taken little by little. With time, your ability to perceive the intentions and feelings of the people surrounding you will grow intuitively.
2. Join a club or start a hobby
What about finding a buddy to practice your hobbies with? Or even discover hobbies that other people have? How about funding a club with like-minded people? There are infinite ways of starting a hobby. Do not be afraid to try new possibilities. Keep an open mind.
3. Do not say just “Hi”
You know that cheesy talk about the weather? You can also skip it. Instead, how about changing directions? Tell people some of the best of you. Share a song that you have been enjoying lately, or tell them what kind of food you made this week that totally worked out! Those small personal things will take your conversation to the next level.
4. Talk to strangers
What if you are more the kind of person that thinks that being social is more about meeting people? You can also do that! The goal is always to practice. Every positive outcome comes from practising.
5. Use UNBLND (Bonus Tip)
Wanna hear from people that you never met before and practise the tips you just learnt here? UNBLND is a very nice platform to connect with new people. Your only task will be telling the app about your interests and to practise your acquired social skills! UNBLND’s advanced algorithm will take care of the rest for you ;) Now available on Apple Store and Google Play.
Hope you have enjoyed this reading and see you on the UNBLND app!
