9 Ways To Stop Being Socially Awkward & Weird

Do you detest going to those uptown gatherings? Do you shy away from making eye contact with people? Are nodding your head and laughing out loud your only contributions to conversations? Then, in all probability, you are socially awkward and need to increase your social value. While it doesn’t come with too many problems, lacking social skills can make your leisure times difficult as you have issues interacting with people.

Most people believe that social anxiety lies in the mind. A part of it is true. However, there are many other factors that could cause you to be socially handicapped. Some of them are listed below:

• Having low self-esteem is one of the primary causes. Bullying, failures or even physical challenges could trigger this.
• If you are anxious, sensitive or even short-tempered, you could find socializing a bit difficult.
• If you are a single child or belong to a broken family, a big gathering could leave you clueless.
• Ethnic, financial, educational, and sexual backgrounds play a role too.

Is it necessary for you to do something about your social awkwardness? Yes. But, even before you get to that step, you need to understand where your handicap is stemming from. Based on what is triggering this handicap in you, you could choose a method that takes care of the issue. Another thing you need to examine is what your personality type is. Extroverts do not have issues in mingling with people. It’s more often the introverts and ambiverts who find it difficult to socialize.

Once you have a better understanding of who you are and why you are socially awkward, here are some ways by which you can conquer your problems.

Be Present

If you are socially awkward, chances are high that you will create a parallel world inside your head while others are having fun. While this is a way to help you escape the awkwardness, what it also does is put you in a spot of bother when there are conversations happening around you. When you are not paying attention, you might get caught off guard, which will add to your awkwardness, so it’s best to pay attention to everyone.

Try To Chip In

To beat social awkwardness, it’s best just to go with the flow. Join conversations, be a part of group activities, and try to break the ice as much as you can. That will help you gel better with people and people will start to notice you as well.

Goof-Ups Are Fine

If you are scared that you will goof up, here‘s the thing. Everybody goofs up, but the only thing others do, and you don’t, is handle themselves well. As a socially awkward person, you tend to focus more on the goof-up, while others tend to focus on how to divert attention from what they’ve done. In fact, most people just act like it never happened. So, watch and learn!

Don’t Focus On Your Flaws

So, you’re overweight. Or you have acne. Does that make you a less talented person? It doesn’t, right? That’s the reason why you should always put your best foot forward and stop focusing on your flaws. Nobody is out there to dig deep into your flaws and conduct a research on it, so chill.

Be Prepared

If you are image conscious, it’s best for you to work on your confidence before doing anything else. For example, if you think you are overweight, and that is affecting your confidence, you could get started with a weight loss regimen or something. This is not making you change yourself to please others, but will make you feel good about yourself.

Choose Your Circle Wisely

One reason you could be feeling awkward at certain gatherings is because you share nothing in common with the people around you. It’s best to socialize with like-minded people than hang out with people who are into things you don’t like. In such cases, there is bound to be some awkwardness, unless, of course, you want to try something new.

Prep Up Your Body Language

You might actually end up announcing to the whole world that you are socially awkward, even without putting it across in as many words. What it means is from the way you walk to the way you stand, your body language reflects the comfort and confidence you have. Slouching, gazing at the floor, and shaking your legs constantly indicate that you have low confidence.

Observe The Pros

Like mentioned in one of the points, simply watch and learn. If you don’t know how to kickstart a conversation, look at how the pros walk in and get chatting effortlessly. Also, notice their skills when they engage with different groups and talk about different things. From discussions to body language to exits, there’s a lot you can learn simply by observing them.

Smile

This is one weapon all of us have, and this is something that can set almost everything straight. Be it a goof-up, or the answer you might not know, or being asked to do something uncomfortable, a smile can save you the blushes. So, smile away your social blues.

Being socially awkward isn’t as uncommon as you think it is. It’s best to connect with the most relatable face in the crowd and eventually expand your circle than jump into being a social butterfly straightaway. With these tips to aid you, we hope your social life becomes more happening!

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