Edo Baba
Arguably, social media and telecommunications have negatively impacted social skills among men.
Most people prefer communication via cyber telecommunications or social media platforms to in-person bonding. The COVID-19 pandemic further increased the lack of social skills among teens, especially with the isolation and social distancing it came with.
A study by ResearchGate on social skills among male teenagers in 2021 revealed that social skills helped to improve the participants’ confidence. The study also established that social skills helped to reduce the verbal aggression of the participants.
Here are five tips that can help men improve their social skills:
Interact With Others Physically
Engage in physical discussions with your family, friends, or colleagues. Applying effective communication skills such as active listening and body language can help to get people to interact with you. Interacting with acquaintances regularly is a huge step in building your social skills when talking to strangers.
Ask Open-Ended Questions
Asking open-ended questions offers a perfect opportunity to stir up conversations with other people. It creates room to get the perspectives of your family, friends, and colleagues thereby developing relationships. Open-ended questions leave you with positive impression from others because their emotions and thoughts are validated.
Improve Your Active Listening Skill
Active listening foster
communication with others because it helps to validate the feelings when interacting with you. Listening attentively when someone is interacting make them to be relaxed to express their thoughts. Active listening entails maintaining eye contact, making use of non-verbal cues like nodding in conformity.
Maintain Eye Contact
Eye contact helps to make other people feel comfortable when interacting with you because it shows interest. Develop a strategy to hold eye contact with for a minimum of three to five seconds when interacting with someone. Ensure that you hold eye contact with someone during interactions.
Get Social Skills Tools
Investing in relevant tools that can help to improve your social skills is a right step in the right direction. You can enrol in online classes and get books that can enhance your social skills. These resources offer different aspects of social skills like body language, active listening, or networking.
Social skills are important to men especially when they are outside of their comfort zone. Improving your social skills start with conscious and gradual effort in practicing active listening, maintaining eye contact, and starting meaningful discussions. Relationships can be built through little and persistent practices of the five aforementioned tips.
Fred
