If you want to create more meaningful relationships in your life, you need to figure out how to be social as an introvert.
And that’s exactly what we’re going to talk about today.
I’m about to share with you the exact same advice that I teach to our clients in our social skills coaching program.
What You'll Learn In This Post
1. Avoid Comparing Yourself To Others
You get exactly what you think about the most.
If you keep magnifying your flaws, then you’re not going to feel good about yourself.
I want to tell you right now that there are a lot of good things about being an introvert.
You just have to know what they are.
That way, you don’t compare yourself unfavorably to others, especially extroverts.
For example, introverts are naturally good listeners, deep thinkers, and are also very creative.
On the other hand, extroverts find it hard to work alone, get bored easily, and have poor listening skills.
As the saying goes, “whatever you appreciate, appreciates.”
Nobody is perfect and we all have our shortcomings.
But you get to decide where you put your attention to.
If you want to know how to be social as an introvert, keep focusing on your positive traits.
The more you do, the better you’ll feel about who you are.
2. Come Up With Things To Talk About
Has your mind ever gone blank while you’re talking to someone?
If you want to prevent awkward silences during your interactions, make sure you prepare in advance.
Before you go to any social gathering, take the time to come up with things to say.
Doing so will help you become more confident interacting with people.
Check out this video if you want to become more talkative and less quiet.
If you think about it, the same topics tend to come up in conversation over and over again anyway.
That being said, prepare some stories regarding your work, your upbringing, places you’ve been to, events you’ve attended, and your interests.
Try to stay up to date with current events as well.
Visit a few reputable news websites so you’re aware of trending topics.
The more stories you put together, the easier it’ll be for you to figure out how to never run out of things to say.
When you know what to talk about and how to respond, you’ll feel a lot more comfortable interacting with anybody.
3. Keep An Open Mind
First of all, there’s nothing wrong with wanting to spend time alone.
I think there’s a time and place to stay at home, watch a movie or read a good book.
But if you want to learn how to be social as an introvert, you have to limit activities that isolate you for too long.
Remember, nothing happens when you don’t leave your house.
If you currently have no social life, you need to make an effort to go out and meet more people.
As intimidating as it could be, say “yes” and accept all valid invitations from others.
Keep an open mind and try things you normally wouldn’t.
Remember, everything you want is outside of your comfort zone.
Otherwise, you would already have it.
Also, you don’t need to be out for too long if you don’t want to.
Even if you can only stay for an hour at any event, that’s better than nothing.
At the end of the day, building an awesome social circle is still going to be a number’s game.
That’s why you’ll want to create as many opportunities as you can to socialize and connect with people.
The more risk you’re willing to take, the faster you’ll improve socially.
4. Get Good At Approaching Strangers
Your ability to start a conversation with someone you don’t know will help you create more abundance in your social life.
If you don’t learn how to overcome social anxiety and shyness, then you’ll always catch yourself sitting on the sidelines.
In order to figure out how to be social as an introvert, you have to be more courageous.
Instead of waiting for people to talk to you, you have to get good at making the first move.
The better you are at doing this, the faster you’ll figure out how to meet like-minded friends.
From Shy To Social
Discover proven steps to approach and talk to anybody no matter how shy you are.
To help you overcome your approach anxiety, follow the three-second rule, and take action immediately.
Keep your opener simple and introduce yourself right away.
Remember, the longer you wait, the more nervous you’ll feel.
You’ll get in your head and you’ll talk yourself out of taking action.
Your anxiety will build up and you’ll have an awful experience at any social gathering.
5. Sit With The Silence
Most people feel uncomfortable when there’s a lull in the conversation.
But the thing is, it’s totally normal to have quiet moments every now and then when you’re talking to someone.
If you want to learn how to be social as an introvert, you don’t need to rush yourself to say something.
Just sit with the silence and let what the other person said sink in.
Feel free to take a moment to pause and reflect before you respond.
By doing so, you’ll be able to gather your thoughts and figure out how to express yourself better.
As a result, you’ll feel more relaxed and at ease in any social situation.
6. Look More Approachable
It’s hard to come across as someone likeable when you’re slouching, have your arms crossed, and have a frown on your face.
If you look unfriendly, then people might get the wrong impression of you.
Check out this podcast interview with Pablo Rosario, Relationship Coach, where he talks about how to appear more interesting.
Remember, you never get a second chance to create a great first impression.
If you want to know how to be social as an introvert, you need to pay attention to how you present yourself.
That being said, make sure you have an open body language by standing up straight and keeping your arms to your side.
Maintain proper eye contact when you talk to someone and have a genuine smile on your face.
When you look approachable, more people are going to be inclined to interact with you.
7. Lead The Conversation
From what I’ve seen, making small talk for introverts is painful because they don’t know how to transition out of it.
They get stuck discussing the weather or what traffic was like earlier that day.
That’s why their interactions stall and don’t go anywhere.
If you want to figure out how to be social as an introvert, you need to know how to lead the conversation.
To help you implement this, you have to identify what your preferred conversation topics are.
These are things that you know a lot about and enjoy discussing with others.
And then make a conscious effort to ask questions or make statements that will naturally bring those up.
For example, let’s say rock climbing is one of your hobbies and you want to talk about it.
If that’s the case, you can ask the person you’re chatting with what they do for fun early on during your interaction.
After they’ve responded, they’ll naturally turn the question back to you.
And now, you’ve easily lead the conversation into a topic that interests you as well.
Do you see how that works?
The key here is to speak with purpose.
Avoid bringing up subjects that you don’t want to talk about.
8. Be Curious About Others
Most people who struggle socially tend to ruminate a lot.
They’re stuck in their heads imagining what others might be thinking about them.
If you want to know how to be social as an introvert, you need to shift your focus.
The best way to do this is to follow your curiosity and put your attention on others.
Give whoever you’re with your full and undivided attention.
Ask yourself what’s so interesting about the person you’re speaking with?
Have a genuine desire to get to know someone and keep the conversation going from that place.
People love talking about themselves anyway so go ahead and let them.
Be present, actively listen and encourage them to share more.
By being interested in others, they’ll be interested in you as well.
9. Reach Out To People Regularly
If you want to know how to bond and build deeper friendships, you can’t be so passive.
Take the initiative instead of waiting for people to reach out to you.
Hit up your friends and make plans with them on a consistent basis.
For example, you can grab lunch, go for coffee or just do a fun activity together.
From my experience, people always tell me that they appreciate it whenever I invite them to do something.
I know this sounds like a lot of work but there’s really no way around it.
You need to get good at nurturing your connections if you want to have lifelong relationships.
10. Don’t Take Rejection Personally
If you want to learn how to be social as an introvert, you have to get comfortable with rejection.
In fact, you can’t really avoid it.
At the end of the day, you can’t control people’s perceptions of you.
Some will like you and some won’t and that’s totally okay.
That’s why you have to learn how to not take things personally.
Tired Of Feeling Lonely?
If you’re struggling socially and would like some help, let’s connect.
You just have no idea what’s going on in people’s lives.
Maybe they were having a bad day when you tried talking to them.
Who knows?
Your guess is as good as mine.
Also, the person who turned you down barely knows who you are.
You’re a total stranger to them.
Remind yourself that they’re rejecting your approach, not you as a person.
In order to succeed socially, put all your focus on what you can control and that’s it.
The better you are at handling rejection, the more you’ll put yourself out there.
11. Practice As Much As You Can
Building your social confidence is like a muscle.
The more you use it, the stronger it gets.
If you want to know how to be social as an introvert, you have to practice as much as you can.
The more people you talk to, the faster you’ll figure out how to improve your conversation skills.
Check out this video if you want to know how to be outgoing and talkative.
On the other hand, if you don’t make time to interact with others, it’s easy to fall back into your loner habits.
That’s why you have to make an effort to have social interactions in your day-to-day life.
For example, you can chat with someone while you’re in line buying coffee.
Have lunch with your co-workers instead of eating by yourself.
You can also try to make small talk with the person you’re sitting with during your commute.
If doing these things make you nervous, take that as a sign that you’re growing and making progress.
Remember, small actions that are taken repeatedly add up to something big eventually.
Once you learn how to be more socially confident, you never have to miss out on opportunities to connect with others.
12. Keep Yourself Motivated
It’s easy to feel discouraged if you don’t see any results right away.
That’s why you have to remind yourself that everything worthwhile takes time.
If you’re wondering how to be social as an introvert, you need to keep yourself motivated so that you don’t quit.
The best way to do this is to visualize your social goals and pretend you’ve already achieved them.
You’re a lot more likely to accomplish what you want when you connect with the emotions behind it.
Doing this will help you stay on track and keep you inspired.
As a result, you’ll still take action especially during days when you don’t feel like it.
Conclusion
If you’re wondering how to be social as an introvert, I just shared with you my best tips.
Feel free to go through them again and implement them as much as you can.
And now, let’s turn it to you.
Which one of these tips are you going to implement first?
Are you going to avoid comparing yourself to others or work on leading the conversation?
Send me a message on Instagram and let me know.