- PRIMARY NAVIGATION ZONES
- Currently viewing:
- Issue 2 > The shy person's guide to talking to strangers.
The shy person's guide to talking to strangers.
John Wesley elaborates on how to improve your networking ability.
One of the easiest ways to improve your networking ability and invigorate your social life is to develop the skill of talking to strangers.
We're trained as children to fear strangers (which is good for safety reasons) but most people carry this fear into adulthood where it does more harm than good. It becomes a constraint on the number of people you can meet and interact with. You get stuck in a box, only open to creating new relationships through people you already know.
If you already know a lot of people, this can work all right, but it limits you to meeting people who are generally like you. If you are new to an area and don't have many friends, the fear of talking to strangers is absolutely crippling.
Fortunately, developing the skill of talking to strangers is easy. Once you get started the immense benefits and excitement it brings will encourage you to keep going.
It comes down to three things:
- 1 Understanding the benefits of talking to strangers.
- 2 Knowing how to deal with the occasional rejection or unpleasant encounter.
- 3 Breaking down your fear through practice.
Everyone is a learning experience.
To get an idea of the benefits of talking to strangers, you need to change your mentality. As tribal creatures, we're naturally inclined to fear, nay hate, people we don't know. We instinctually perceive them as dangerous outsiders, seeking to pillage our village and make off with our women and children!
In modern society this simply isn't true. Most people are friendly and perfectly open to conversing with you. It just takes a little effort to cross the stranger barrier. Each person is an incredible learning opportunity. What they tell you about themselves. How they live and interact with the world. There is a wealth information waiting to be tapped.
Strangers also tell you a tremendous amount about yourself by the way they react to you. As you gain experience and learn to read body language, these reactions are essential to developing your social skills. Of course, there are also the priceless relationships you'll have the chance to form:
- Business contacts. Who you know (and what they think of you) is often more important than what's on your resume.
- Friendships.
- Mentors and teachers.
- Romantic relationships.
Wanted: world-teller. Spread the word, market the bejeezus out of our brand.
Advertise onsite. It'll help you build a better business.
RSS? Grab our feeds.
Questions? Fyi… the 'who, what, why, how?' etcetera.
Notes. Propaganda, feedback, queries, etcetera.
Twitter, and us. How we use it.
Getting to know yourself. David Bohl.
Twenty-four time management tips. Beth Dargis.
Connect with conversation. Thomas Duffy.
Knock, knock… who's there? Your target market, are you listening? Catherine Franz.
Social media and stupidity as an externality. Rob May.
Think bigger and better. Tim Smit.
Why a good 'about' page can't replace a blog. Dee Barizo.
Where do babies come from? The power of the 'question'. Gregg Thompson.
Why being unreasonable can lead to success. Dawud Miracle.
Why we rarely finish what we start. Blair Warren.