Interpersonal skills are essential in order to develop one’s interactions with other people on a personal and a professional level. They include communication, awareness and teamwork, allowing one to function in a spectrum of social settings. Appropriate social skills help people build confidence, minimize conflicts and improve working relations. They are also crucial in expanding one’s contact and leadership spheres in the working environment. On the other hand, these skills enable one to be emotionally intelligent and resolve quarrels with ease, which makes them very important for effective development in all works of life. Let us learn how to improve social skills as students:
Master your Body Language
Nonverbal communication is critical in order to give the right impressions. Thus, it is important to ensure that you are conscious of how you present yourself. Generally, people tend to frown unconsciously or slouch. Pay attention to these tendencies and try to avoid negative ones as frowning eye contact slouching with arms crossed and instead encourage positive ones such as relaxed posture, eye contact and affirmative gestures.
Eye Contact
In most cases, if you are an anxious person or socially shy, you will probably hide your eyes from the other person’s gaze for too long or meet his glance for just a fleeting moment. Try to engage in eye contact for 50% of the time, when speaking, and 70% when listening. If you want to look people in the eye but it makes you feel uncomfortable, don’t worry. This is something that can be learned and practiced with ease. Begin by concentrating on their eyebrows since eye contact is very personal, then focusing on making eye contact with them in every other conversation.
Become interested in people
Curiosity can automatically improve your social skills because when you are thinking about the other person instead of yourself, you will feel less self-conscious, and it becomes easier to think of things to say during conversations.
Listen Attentively
This may take some effort as it may be possible to engage in a conversation. It will involve setting aside pleasant or distracting thoughts and actively considering what is being said by that other person. A speaker deserves concentration. Acknowledge the speaker’s interest with a few comments, seek clarifications whenever in one is, and give feedback where necessary.
Ask for Help
Whenever this or that situation is experienced and there is the feeling of not knowing what to do, one asks for help from their friends, workmates, parents, or even teachers. In this way, one can gain knowledge from others without the fear of distresses.
Visualize yourself as a social person
Visualisation is a powerful tool that can enhance performance, whether you’re an athlete or someone who struggles with social situations. By picturing yourself as a confident, socially adept person, you can improve your real-life interactions. Visualise yourself speaking confidently to new people, building rapport with colleagues, and handling difficult conversations smoothly.
Pursue social activities
Practicing is the only method of improving social skills. Look for social activities that you can participate in. These can be clubs, sporting activities, or community events. They will help you in making friends and establishing relationships with other people in a very productive way.
These methods are proven to improve social skills as students require it the most to be able to step into the corporate world after college.
