A Girl's Guide

How to: Socialise

Socialising. The act of behaving in a friendly or sociable manner.

To be honest, I have previously sucked at this but luckily those days are long gone. Today I will teach you like you have never been taught before so get ready to have your social status updated.

I am going to guide you through every step of the way. Literally. I will be telling you exactly what you need to do from the moment you meet someone for the first time to keeping your social life alive.

When you meet someone for the first time, it is very important that you have a good impression on them. Did you know that it takes only 7 seconds for someone to build up an instant impression of the type of person you are?

Follow these steps to create the ultimate, perfect first impression of yourself:

Smile. Now I don't mean grin from ear to ear nor do I mean smile in a way that may suggest you are shy. Simply smile casually to give off a friendly vibe and to also seem welcoming and polite.

Once you approach them (or they approach you) begin by introducing yourself. Seems pretty easy, right? Wrong. Make sure that your head is held up and you have a good, straight posture that you can maintain throughout the whole of your conversation. This shows that you are confident and your body language also suggests that you are open to conversations and that you are welcoming.

Once you have finally engaged in a conversation, make sure that you speak clearly and don't ramble on about the same topic for too long. This may bore people or cause them to be uninterested in you.

Ask them about their interests and and anything else appropriate at the time.  Try to find a common interest between you which means that you will always have something to resort to if there ever comes that awkward moment where you're just standing there in silence and the tension is UNBEARABLE. I feel ya.

Finally, after a few more encounters with them you should be more "friends" and less "total strangers". This means you can ask for their number or their social media accounts. This will allow you to also have conversations online which should improve your friendship.

From there on, carry on having frequent conversations both in person and online. Pay them genuine compliments and find out their likes and dislikes and any other information that will help you become a better friend.

Carry this on for a few months until you are certain you have both (or if it's a group, all) become comfortable around eachother. You also need to make the decision as to whether you would like to remain as simply what I like to call the "Hi and Bye" friends, close friends or even best friends. If you would like to become close friends or best friends, carry on reading. If not, just keep the friendship as it is and do not let it escalate. What I mean by this is if they offer to meet up, agree every once in a while if you want to and also have conversations but not long and continuous ones.

However, if you want to become close friends or best friends you need to start engaging in out-of-school (or workplace etc) activities and have some fun. For example, you could suggest going out to the cinema or meeting up somewhere to go shopping then eating some lunch/dinner.

Carry on doing all the steps above including the ones for "Hi and Bye" friends and you should be besties before you know it.

Hiiiiii, what did you think of that? Possibly the longest chapter yet but whatever. Part 2 will tell you all about how to keep your social life alive.