7 Social Skills
7 Social Skills That Will Make You Seem More Likable
Social skills are the skills we use to communicate and interact with each other, both verbally and non-verbally, through gestures, body language and our personal appearance. Human beings are sociable creatures and we have developed many ways to communicate our messages, thoughts and feelings with others.
A social skill is any competence facilitating interaction and communication with others where social rules and relations are created, communicated, and changed in verbal and nonverbal ways. The process of learning these skills is called socialization. Lack of such skills can cause social awkwardness. Wikipedia
We all know someone who can walk into a room and most people feel drawn to them. What’s their secret? They’ve learned the social skills to use in conversations that get people to like them. You can control being likable, as well.
When having a conversation use these 7 social skills:
- Make eye contact and hold it. Eye contact helps others feel like they can trust you. It conveys warmth and competence.
- Show enthusiasm and energy or charisma. This draws people to you and it’s contagious.
- Give a firm handshake but don’t dominate with a hard handshake. Also, don’t show weakness with a limp handshake either. A firm handshake gives a lasting impression of whether someone likes you or not. Don’t pump people’s hands – a quick firm shake or two is sufficient.
- Use people’s first names. It makes them feel great that you know who they are and remember their name. Learn a few tricks for remember names such as imagery or rhyming.
- Know how to accept a compliment. And how to give one. Don’t gush or be egotistical. Just say “Thank you. That means a lot to me.” Or something similar.
- Skip the small talk. Forgo polite conversation, especially if you want to become friends. Get a little vulnerable but don’t jump right into deep or controversial topics if you’ve just met or barely know someone. Look for safe topics that go deeper than weather.
- Make everyone feel included. No one likes feeling left out when you’re talking to a group of people. Look at everyone involved so they feel like they have your attention.
For some people, social skills come naturally. But that’s not the case for everyone. If you receive negative feedback in these areas, or struggle with some of these essential social skills, prioritize improving them.
Alison Doyle notes that “Social skills are essential for workplace success. Also called “interpersonal skills,” social skills are what we all use to interact and communicate with other people. These skills include both verbal skills (the way you speak to other people) and nonverbal skills (your body language, gestures, and eye contact).” read more
Have a great day!!
Fran
P.S. If you are not on my email list, please sign up here