5 Key Social Skills You Must Sharpen
Social skills are must-haves to take you places, help you meet the right people, and get you the attention you deserve. They help you make deeper inroads in your relationships and career. Are you naturally blessed with these essential traits or do you need to sharpen them?
Smooth communication methods and good social skills make your life active, fun-filled, free from depression, and yes, very successful. With socialising and interacting being some of the most fundamental needs of human beings, modern day women are going an extra mile to adopt the skills for the same. Check out the most important social skills that promise to make your life more meaningful and enjoyable.
5 Ways of Developing Social Skills
1. The Ability to Stay Calm in Social Situations
In spite of having all the key social skills in place, if you’re stressed or anxious, your brain stops functioning and you tend to become agitated. You end up saying the wrong things. It’s essential to be calm and composed when meeting people or relating to them in any way. Also, any signs of nervousness, irritability or stress on your face will make others cautious, thereby making them behave differently around you.
2. Connect Well with Proper Means of Communication
The best way to enhance your social skills is by working upon the way you communicate with others. Good listening skills are a must, and leave your mark as an attractive and well-groomed person. Talking in turns, showing interest with ‘listening’ noises such as ‘oh yes’ or ‘Uh-huh’, asking for feedback about the things said by others, and so forth, are some of the many ways in which you can retain a person’s interest in conversing with you.
3. Be Empathetic with Other’s Interests and Issues
More often than not, self consciousness leads to social anxiety. This can be removed by allowing your focus to rest upon the problems and interests of others in conversation with you. Along with getting your audience more interested in you as a person, your activities, and other interests and your empathetic nature will send out the right signals and earn you many new friends.
4. How Important is it to Talk About Yourself
Talking a lot about yourself and very early in the conversation, may transform you into an instant turn-off. It’s best to stick to general and polite conversation in the beginning, move on to specific topics of mutual interest, and then get personal—only if the situation permits. For instance, talking about your darkest fears or deep desires are topics best avoided, unless you happen to be with a bestie.
5. Make Eye Contact and Smile
While talking, you need to gain the trust and attention of others by making constant eye contact, and yes smiling. It’s a fact that the right social skills coupled with a direct and honest smile go a long way in breaking the ice between two people. It helps in nurturing a strong bond—one that promises to last for a long time.
Good social skills give you the confidence of interacting with others freely. So, gear up to develop all the right traits that promise to make you more acceptable and popular as a person and in all social setups. Begin today!