In childhood, making new friends was like having a piece of cake. Remember the days when you used to make new friends in gardens, schools, in your neighbourhood and even in your tuition classes? However, you might have noticed that as you grew younger you either forgot the art of making new friends or you lost interest. Whatever the reason could be meeting new people and making them your friends should never stop as you get a chance to learn a lot of new things.
People try many methods to find new friends but due to constraints like time boundaries, commitments, jobs and other duties, they can’t do it. But it is not as hard as it may seem to you. There are many creative ways to make new friends, some of which you may already know.
Nevertheless, in this blog, we brought you 5 awesome ways to try to make new friends and enlarge your social circle. Well, here you go:
Be Open to Conversations
When we grow younger we tend to forget the way we conversed with people when we were children. It is one of the major reasons why we fail to make new friends as an adult. If you will work on this, you will certainly be able to find new friends.
When somebody approaches you for a conversation, be open and respond with full confidence. Moreover, you can try different ways like talking about your appearance, way of talking and other stuff related to that person so that the conversation doesn’t seem boring.
Apart from that, you can also begin a conversation in a social setup by approaching people with whom you seem interested. The best way to begin a conversation is by appreciating the other person for his talks, opinions, or sense of humour.
When you meet people you get many opportunities to establish a connection with them and make them acquainted with you. It is totally on you to capitalise on these opportunities and make some friends.
Be Confident
Generally speaking, the majority of people feel uncomfortable and underconfident talking to a stranger and it is totally normal. The case is extreme for introverts who feel like hell being surrounded by people. However, if you wish to make new friends, you have to move a step ahead from your fear or uneasiness and develop confidence.
In the beginning, when you expose yourself to a crowd or a gathering of people in any social gathering, you will feel weird and anxious. But, as you face your fear, you will certainly gain confidence. Once you gain confidence, it will be an easy walk for you to make friends.
Nonetheless, if you don’t feel uncomfortable in social gatherings, and you are good at interacting with people. Make sure that whatever you speak, you speak confidently. It will help you gain admirers.
Be an Influential Personality
The best way to make friends is to influence the people around you. Well, you might be thinking that only rich or famous people can influence people, if this is the case, then you are wrong.
Through your articulation, charismatic personality, appearance, and aura, you can influence people around you.
Pay special attention to the following things while meeting new people:
- Speak clearly, speak fluently and speak with confidence.
- Deliver jokes to make your conversation interesting.
- When you speak to a person, look into their eyes.
- Use your hand gestures, and head movements while speaking.
- Always wear a smile on your face while interacting with people.
- Don’t forget to appreciate people and thank them.
- In social situations, be courteous and act like a gentleman.
Be a Good Listener
Making new friends is easy for those who are good listeners. When you listen carefully to a person, you tend to understand them better. Meanwhile, when they observe you listening to them keenly, they will be impressed by it because very less people take an interest in other’s talks.
When you listen carefully, you are more likely to give a proper reply. Moreover, you will remember things that they said and whenever you meet them again, you can talk about the previous conversation. In this way, you can influence them.
Be the Ice Breaker
When you meet people, especially new ones, you feel a bit awkward talking to them. All of us feel this way, but one who breaks the ice grabs the attention of all. In social situations, when everybody sits ideally and waits for someone to talk, you can break the ice by saying something silly or cracking jokes.
Other people will feel comfortable around hence talking about things around them and the stuff they like. In this way, you can meet new people, get acquainted with them and find new friends.
Related read, Handling Peer Pressure: Building The Right Boundaries
Advantages of Making New Friends
There are many benefits of making new friends, some of these are:
You learn new things
When you interact with new people and make new friends, it creates opportunities to learn new things. You can learn many things like their language, behaviour, or skills.
You become social
Meeting new people, interacting with them and making new friends provides you a way to become social. You conquer your fear of social awkwardness and become bold.
It boosts your self-esteem
When you make new friends, it boosts your self-esteem as your perception about yourself gets a boost by getting validated by people and feeling comfortable while interacting with them.
No room for loneliness
The presence of friends kills the loneliness. When you make new friends, you leave no room for loneliness to exist, therefore, you kill boredom and enjoy the moments.
You get out of your comfort zone
Making new friends need courage and most importantly, you need to come outside of your comfort zone and meet new people. It gives you a positive outlook on life and you become confident.
Also read: Creating Memories With Your Best Friends It’s Benefits & Importance