Human beings are social creatures who need to be around people and be able to have a healthy interaction with them. For a healthy interaction, they should know how to build confidence. If you feel that you are not comfortable in social situations and feel awkward being around people, you might end up being isolated and that is not acceptable for your emotional well-being. If you are awkward only around certain people but are comfortable among most, the problem may not be as severe but still needs to be addressed. It must not come in the way of you achieving your goals and fulfilling your desires.
What Is the Action Needed?
The reason for awkwardness is nothing but a lack of confidence in being able to face people and not knowing how to respond. To be comfortable in any situation, you must be confident in yourself. Hence, all you need to do is build confidence. For someone, who is an introverted and subdued, this could be a challenge, but with a push in the right direction, it is possible. A life coach would be the right person to teach you how to build confidence.
How to Build Confidence?
In order to be less awkward and more confident, some steps that you could start with are:
- Make Eye Contact When Addressing People
When you talk to someone and avoid making eye contact with the other person, it indicates a lack of confidence. While you do not need to stare at the other person constantly, making contact indicates that you are interested in the conversation. Too much eye contact could make the other person uncomfortable and must be avoided.
- Allow Sufficient Interpersonal Space
When in conversation with another individual, you must maintain sufficient distance from the other person to make sure they don’t feel violated and uncomfortable in your presence. You must also not stand too far as it would make the interaction overly weird for both. Maintaining a respectable distance but still being in a comfortable space is important for any conversation.
- Maintain Good Hygiene
You could lack confidence if you smell bad. The people around you might react negatively to the body odour and that could make you awkward. Maintaining good hygiene will give you self-confidence and not allow anyone to get a chance to take a dig at you.
- Stick to Appropriate Topics of Conversation
When you have a conversation with another person or a group of people that are not your very close friends, you must keep the conversation around topics that are socially appropriate. You should avoid any discussion on topics that could spark a controversy or hurt others’ feelings. Not doing so can lead to embarrassment.
- Understand the Progression of Self-Disclosure
When meeting someone new, do not talk too much about yourself. Reveal only what is appropriate. It is also not right to not share anything about yourself when others do. Initial stages of interaction must not veer to topics about your problems, phobias, or obsessions. Neutral topics such as your hobbies and interests are good.
- Stick to the Topic of Conversation
In a conversation thread, the topics should be relevant. If you mention something unrelated midstream, it could become awkward. To avoid such a situation, try not to divert from the discussion and stay in the flow.
- Do Not Barge in or Linger in a Conversation
Your entry and exit from a conversation must not seem forced but be smooth. If the speaker at the other end is trying to end the conversation, make a quick and smooth exit rather than trying to stretch a non-existent conversation.
- Show That You Are Listening
While you are a part of a conversation, you must participate actively by listening and let the other person know so. A simple way of doing this is by using cues to indicate your interest. Not paying attention gives rise to an awkward and uncomfortable situation.
Get a Coach
It might be easy to adopt all these into your life when you know where the awkwardness ends and comfort begins. For a better understanding of the nuances of a situation and learn how to build confidence, a life coach could help. Ashna Dhanuka is a life coach who has worked with several people and shown them the path to a more confident self. She could do the same for you.
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