Other people need it more than you do. The world is lonely. Even in a good and pretty wealthy neighborhood like the one that I live in, you’ll see people that are scrolling on their phone with their AirPods in. They’re not really that happy. Why not just ask them a simple question like “What did you do during break?” It doesn’t have to be a long conversation. Just simple and short and by doing that you are actually giving a compliment since you show that you care about them. People want to be heard. So be genuinely interested in them. Or at least pretend to. Go talk to someone right now and you’ll see how receptive most people are to you talking to them. Even better go talk to someone that you don’t know that well and you might even make their day.

I’m sure you’ve heard of things like “Ask open ended questions” or “Don’t equate your experience with theirs.” I remember I used to always be afraid of sharing things about myself because I thought it was wrong to talk about myself and so I would only listen and be interested in other people. Nothing wrong with being interested, but I couldn’t connect to people because I didn’t talk about myself. I think the issue with social skill tips is that it can cause too much overthinking and a lack of authenticity. When you’re purposely trying to ask an open-ended question, it can make the filter on your mind greater which is a problem for people that are already quite shy or quiet. Obviously, maybe this tip could be good for someone like a podcaster or interviewer or someone with advanced social skills already, but definitely not for people who need work on their social skills. So better advice is to be as natural and authentic as possible. When you come up with a question in your mind, just ask it. It doesn’t matter if it’s close ended or open ended. Just ask it. Express your thoughts instead of always just pushing them down and inhibiting them. Be free and release your true self. Let go. The best social skills advice for introverts or people that overthink is act 25% more stupid than you normally are. I know this sounds crazy and it might hurt your ego, but think about the popular kids in your class. Do you think they care about what they say? Do they think about what they’re gonna say beforehand like they’re scripting it? NO! They don’t care and they are the ones who are the social butterflies and they’re getting all of the girls. Think about the hot girl that you see training glutes in the gym. You don’t wanna talk to her because you’re a pussy(like me) and you start overthinking about what you’re gonna say to her. And then some stupid popular kid comes along and he just starts talking to her with a conversation starter like “How was your weekend?” and he ends up getting the girl and absolutely demolishing her in bed. I know that sounds brutal, but that’s honestly your fault for not talking to her.