What do you think?
Rate this book
The Social Skills Guidebook: Manage Shyness, Improve Your Conversations, and Make Friends, Without Giving Up Who You Are
You think your social life could be better. You’ve felt shy as long as you can remember. Your conversations have more awkward moments than you’d like. Maybe you don’t need a ton of friends, but you’d like to have some people to hang out with on occasion. You want to make changes, but you don’t know where to start. Lots of people have been in your shoes, so you’re hardly a lost cause, and it’s never too late to turn things around. The Social Skills Guidebook gives you insights into your interpersonal struggles and behaviors, and offers hands-on advice for developing and improving your people skills. The Social Skills Guidebook goes into detail about solving the three core areas that hold people back 1) Mental barriers including shyness, social anxiety, and low self-confidence 2) Less developed conversation skills 3) A lack of friends and an unsatisfying social life If you look at the people who are socially comfortable in your school or workplace and want what they have, know that you can achieve social success like theirs without losing yourself in the process. You can remain true to your personality and pursue your favorite interests while conquering the attitudes that hold you back, improving your conversation skills, and learning how to make friends. With practice, time, and patience, you can create the kind of social life you want for yourself. The Social Skills Guidebook covers topics • Changing counterproductive thinking that stands in the way of your social confidence • Becoming comfortable with your social fears by facing them in a gradual, manageable way • Improving your self-esteem • Navigating the different parts of a conversation • Getting past awkward silences • Interacting in one-on-one and group conversations • Learning how to listen to others and respond appropriately • Identifying other people’s nonverbal cues and being aware of your own • Finding potential friends and making plans with them • Deepening your friendships • Keeping your progress going • Improving your social skills if you have Asperger’s syndrome The Social Skills Guidebook is written by Chris MacLeod, the author of the extensive, well-visited, free site on interpersonal skills Succeed Socially. This book contains all of the site's key advice in a tight, organized, polished package.
364 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 19, 2016
719 people are currently reading
2829 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 72 reviews
August 22, 2018
3,5 stars. Found this through https://80000hours.org/ career guide.
This is no book for those who want to brush up their average or slightly-below-average social skills but for those who have real trouble functioning socially to a degree that it significantly affects their lives and makes them unhappy.
The book has 3 sections - overcoming mental barriers to socializing, conversation skills, forming and maintaining friendships. Different advice will be adaptable to different people with different problems.
Sometimes the advice seemed a bit too basic or too general ("e.g. How to be more fun: joke around and be amusing" - k, tnx) and I felt like I'm reading a book meant for aliens called "How to people". And sometimes I felt I really am a kind of alien and this is just what I need. There just are some things that seem obvious to many but that have somehow slipped past a few others.
The biggest gains I got from reading this was feeling understood (and also understanding myself better) and motivation (and hopefully courage) to socialize more actively and take matters in my own hands. So I think this can serve as the right kick in the butt that many people need.
It also makes you aware of areas you need to work on. Overall, worth a read.
This is no book for those who want to brush up their average or slightly-below-average social skills but for those who have real trouble functioning socially to a degree that it significantly affects their lives and makes them unhappy.
The book has 3 sections - overcoming mental barriers to socializing, conversation skills, forming and maintaining friendships. Different advice will be adaptable to different people with different problems.
Sometimes the advice seemed a bit too basic or too general ("e.g. How to be more fun: joke around and be amusing" - k, tnx) and I felt like I'm reading a book meant for aliens called "How to people". And sometimes I felt I really am a kind of alien and this is just what I need. There just are some things that seem obvious to many but that have somehow slipped past a few others.
The biggest gains I got from reading this was feeling understood (and also understanding myself better) and motivation (and hopefully courage) to socialize more actively and take matters in my own hands. So I think this can serve as the right kick in the butt that many people need.
It also makes you aware of areas you need to work on. Overall, worth a read.
May 13, 2020
I work in the mental health field and read this book as a way to help me help my patients. If you feel like you have zero social skills and zero friends, then this is a book for you. Or it could help you help someone else with their social life, like your kids or if you're in a similar field as myself.
My agency has a skills group regarding how patients can, to put it succinctly, make themselves more likeable so as to make friends. I loathe the DBT material for handouts we have as I (and my colleagues) found it all quite odd and unhelpful, such as nearly half of it giving tips on how a patient can insert themselves into a group they've never met before. "Is the group close together in proximity or spaced apart? If the latter, gradually slide yourself in and insert yourself into the conversation." I can think of very few occasions where I've seen that work, but it wasn't enough to be profoundly helpful and worth discussing in a 50min group session, especially if our patients don't even like going to places of mass gatherings like parties and clubs (which a lot of them understandably don't).
So, I used handouts I made from the book, "How to Win Friends and Influence People," by Dale Carnegie which was very helpful, but there was one problem. The book was mostly geared towards people who had average social skills and social circles, and wanted to improve them. Many of our patients have neither, so my research led me to the Social Skills Guidebook, which helps one starting from scratch.
It addresses important areas, such as is the reader very anxious, depressed, etc? If so, then it would be wise to address that first before making friends since mental health issues can be an obstacle to making friends. Example, everyone experiences some level of anxiety, but if one's anxiety controls how they think, what they say, and do, such as believing everyone at a house party hates them because of a few facial expressions one perceives as being judgmental, which makes this person act defensive when interacting with others they feel judged by, then making friends at this point might not be plausible even if they've read Carnegie's book twice. Even still, the book discusses the types of cognitive distortions that can come up in social situations and how to address them in the moment because you don't have to be perfectly mentally healthy in order to be worthy of friends. And the book asks good questions such as are you empathic in an emotional way or cognitive way? There is no proper way to be empathetic regarding those choices, the book is just trying to increase self-awareneas to set up the reader for as much success as possible before diving into how to improve one's social life.
When it does dive in, it does not presume to give one a proven formula on how to make friends. Rather, it gives the reader a myriad of practical ideas, possibilities, and reassurances provided they're willing to try socializing and acknowledging that not every idea is going to work and it will take experimenting, time, and patience from the reader for their efforts to pay off. It keeps in mind the different areas one might be in, such as school, living in a small town, volunteering, living with parents, work, meetup.com and even addresses those with Asperger Syndrome/Autism Spectrum Disorder in a later chapter.
As someone who has cultivated various friendships from all kinds of walks of life and comparing those experiences to this book, there is no way one cannot make new friends if they apply the Guidebook's principles. The results won't be immediate, but worthwhile relationships take time to develop. I refrain from giving this book a perfect rating because I believe there was more to say regarding how to actually get people to like you. For example, one of the principles in Carnegie's book is remembering people's names. Pretty simple, not a special tactic thought up by Carnegie, and not a difficult thing to explain. Yet, the Guidebook never mentions this simple rule in the entire 353 pages I read. Be a good listener, smile, etc. I believe there was more to state that could have gone a long way and only have taken maybe an extra 10 pages to say.
My agency has a skills group regarding how patients can, to put it succinctly, make themselves more likeable so as to make friends. I loathe the DBT material for handouts we have as I (and my colleagues) found it all quite odd and unhelpful, such as nearly half of it giving tips on how a patient can insert themselves into a group they've never met before. "Is the group close together in proximity or spaced apart? If the latter, gradually slide yourself in and insert yourself into the conversation." I can think of very few occasions where I've seen that work, but it wasn't enough to be profoundly helpful and worth discussing in a 50min group session, especially if our patients don't even like going to places of mass gatherings like parties and clubs (which a lot of them understandably don't).
So, I used handouts I made from the book, "How to Win Friends and Influence People," by Dale Carnegie which was very helpful, but there was one problem. The book was mostly geared towards people who had average social skills and social circles, and wanted to improve them. Many of our patients have neither, so my research led me to the Social Skills Guidebook, which helps one starting from scratch.
It addresses important areas, such as is the reader very anxious, depressed, etc? If so, then it would be wise to address that first before making friends since mental health issues can be an obstacle to making friends. Example, everyone experiences some level of anxiety, but if one's anxiety controls how they think, what they say, and do, such as believing everyone at a house party hates them because of a few facial expressions one perceives as being judgmental, which makes this person act defensive when interacting with others they feel judged by, then making friends at this point might not be plausible even if they've read Carnegie's book twice. Even still, the book discusses the types of cognitive distortions that can come up in social situations and how to address them in the moment because you don't have to be perfectly mentally healthy in order to be worthy of friends. And the book asks good questions such as are you empathic in an emotional way or cognitive way? There is no proper way to be empathetic regarding those choices, the book is just trying to increase self-awareneas to set up the reader for as much success as possible before diving into how to improve one's social life.
When it does dive in, it does not presume to give one a proven formula on how to make friends. Rather, it gives the reader a myriad of practical ideas, possibilities, and reassurances provided they're willing to try socializing and acknowledging that not every idea is going to work and it will take experimenting, time, and patience from the reader for their efforts to pay off. It keeps in mind the different areas one might be in, such as school, living in a small town, volunteering, living with parents, work, meetup.com and even addresses those with Asperger Syndrome/Autism Spectrum Disorder in a later chapter.
As someone who has cultivated various friendships from all kinds of walks of life and comparing those experiences to this book, there is no way one cannot make new friends if they apply the Guidebook's principles. The results won't be immediate, but worthwhile relationships take time to develop. I refrain from giving this book a perfect rating because I believe there was more to say regarding how to actually get people to like you. For example, one of the principles in Carnegie's book is remembering people's names. Pretty simple, not a special tactic thought up by Carnegie, and not a difficult thing to explain. Yet, the Guidebook never mentions this simple rule in the entire 353 pages I read. Be a good listener, smile, etc. I believe there was more to state that could have gone a long way and only have taken maybe an extra 10 pages to say.
August 25, 2021
I think I've benefitted from some strategies in this book, but I also disagreed with points.
This book states that you should not appear too "edgy" or conservative, and suggests tactics like losing weight or wearing contact lenses instead of glasses; I don't feel these things are necessary to make friends and found the suggestions mildly offensive. They may even be harmful to those reading the book and suffering from low self confidence.
The language used regarding autism is badly outdated, there is no "high" or "low" functioning now, nor is there Aspergers. Its all autism. This part could use an overhaul.
This book states that you should not appear too "edgy" or conservative, and suggests tactics like losing weight or wearing contact lenses instead of glasses; I don't feel these things are necessary to make friends and found the suggestions mildly offensive. They may even be harmful to those reading the book and suffering from low self confidence.
The language used regarding autism is badly outdated, there is no "high" or "low" functioning now, nor is there Aspergers. Its all autism. This part could use an overhaul.
November 10, 2018
Great overview of social skills and networking. Dint find it much more useful than the free information at succeedsocially.com.
May 18, 2020
I found this book to be very helpful. I struggle to maintain an active social life in adulthood (mainly due to anxiety and a little bit of laziness on my part too 😅). I’ve already used this book to better the quality of existing relationships and hope to use it again (once quarantine has ended) to start some new friendships too.
I gave this book 3 stars because at times the reading can be a little cut and dry. There were some parts where I felt like I was reading an instruction manual. However, the book does give good instruction on how to develop and maintain relationships and I would recommend if you are struggling with such a thing.
I gave this book 3 stars because at times the reading can be a little cut and dry. There were some parts where I felt like I was reading an instruction manual. However, the book does give good instruction on how to develop and maintain relationships and I would recommend if you are struggling with such a thing.
June 16, 2020
• I’ve just finished this book. At first, My reading progress was so slow, maybe because a lot of informations seemed so common and already known , In other words, nothing special. then when I started the second part all of sudden things became more interesting and much useful.
• I suggest this Book for people who look for
• improving their social skills, and getting more confident .
Happy reading
• I suggest this Book for people who look for
• improving their social skills, and getting more confident .
Happy reading
June 24, 2022
My favourite quote: “you can also indirectly help your cause [improving your social skills] by becoming a more well-rounded, knowledgeable, interesting person.”
After that I quickly skimmed the book and put it down. Sure it has some techniques that are helpful, but the book is quite condescending (does being shy or socially anxious make a person less interesting? surely reading that won’t particularly be a confidence booster??) and it isn’t an easy read.
After that I quickly skimmed the book and put it down. Sure it has some techniques that are helpful, but the book is quite condescending (does being shy or socially anxious make a person less interesting? surely reading that won’t particularly be a confidence booster??) and it isn’t an easy read.
February 10, 2017
This book could be handy for people who find social interactions a real challenge, e.g. on the autism spectrum, for the general public is mostly common sense presented in a very detailed and structured way. I was probably not the right target for the book and my low rating is based on how much I found it useful personally not on its value for the right audience. 2.5 stars.
January 10, 2020
A lot of this seemed over simplistic. At times, I expected the book to suggest that, if you want talk to people you need to try moving your mouth while simultaneously exhaling. I also felt like a lot of the advice was of the "draw an owl" variety, where the author would essentially suggest that you have better conversations by making sure that your conversations are better.
The presentation also wasn't great. At times, I felt like I was reading someone else's notes on this book. I also listened to the audiobook, which didn't help. There was something about the combination of the writing and the narrator's voice that made me think I was getting advice on how to fit in from that Steve Buscemi meme.
Tl;dr - read "How to Be Yourself" instead.
The presentation also wasn't great. At times, I felt like I was reading someone else's notes on this book. I also listened to the audiobook, which didn't help. There was something about the combination of the writing and the narrator's voice that made me think I was getting advice on how to fit in from that Steve Buscemi meme.
Tl;dr - read "How to Be Yourself" instead.
April 5, 2020
Incredibly useful.
I have moderate social skills. I skimmed the first section of the book, but the second and third were useful for me.
While a lot of the book was “common sense” or at least recognizably normal behaviours, reading it in the book helped boost my confidence I was doing things right and explicitly labelling behaviours made things I was doing naturally more concrete.
I expect to find myself returning to a sections I’ve identified as most important for me to improve my skills.
I have moderate social skills. I skimmed the first section of the book, but the second and third were useful for me.
While a lot of the book was “common sense” or at least recognizably normal behaviours, reading it in the book helped boost my confidence I was doing things right and explicitly labelling behaviours made things I was doing naturally more concrete.
I expect to find myself returning to a sections I’ve identified as most important for me to improve my skills.
April 13, 2020
Applicable right of the bat. In the beginning, the book frees your mind on misconceptions you have that are holding you back. The main sections of the book is like a standard operating procedure on how to deal with situations - no nonsense, no concepts, just do. The last part of the book is more like FAQs for those extraordinary circumstances in which you wish there's someone to ask what to do.
December 16, 2019
Chris MacLeod has written a concise and complete guide to improving your social life. The directions are easy to understand, practical to implement, and give the shy reader a sense of hope for a fulfilling social life.
October 22, 2016
Very interesting book. There are definitely parts that are obvious but like the way the author breaks down social interactions. It was cool to read another persons perspective on social interactions.
February 19, 2019
Perfect guide book for social skills. Good material for socially anxious people and a good refresher for introverts who have already been working on these skills
June 18, 2020
I’m only half-way through but I can say that this book is a life changer. It is filled with practical approaches to social anxiety and can really change your perspective in humanity.
February 4, 2024
This book is excellent if you're looking to improve your communication skills in any capacity. There are points that you may want to skip if it doesn't apply to you, but this book is a comprehensive guide to getting through some mental health issues while also giving practical advice to how to replicate social success. I highly recommend if you're an introvert with an analytical mind and you're not just looking for "feel good" advice.
January 1, 2023
This book covers such a vast breadth of challenges a person may face when it comes to utilizing social skills, so for most people, not every single thing in this book will be of utility. It is structured in a very easy to navigate manner so you can read as much or as little of it as you need, and you can freely jump around between sections without fear of experiencing a continuity break.
I chose to read the book straight through although not all of it applied to me because I was interested in understanding all the social skills issues presented and how the MacLeod analyzed them and proposed strategies for them, even in cases I didn't need it personally.
While I wouldn't classify myself as someone who struggles with conversation and social situations generally, I do struggle with feeling motivated to make new friends (though I fully recognize the value of building friendships) when I am in situations I don't know anyone. This was particularly salient in my life now as I have relocated and have no social network. The prospect of meeting new people in what feels a very inorganic manner (organic to me is meeting people at work) brought me crippling anxiety. My husband (formerly a psychologist) recommended this to me to help me more intellectually analyze the thought patterns I was falling into.
I found it quite helpful for myself, but also in that the text in its entirety helped me to understand the different types of social anxieties people may be facing at any given time. I think this understanding makes me much better equipped to be supportive of others who may be anxious in interactions with me or others. Given that I understand how overwhelming this feeling can be myself, I feel strongly that the ability to be supportive of others when they experience it is so important.
Niche topic, but potentially high utility if it's something you need.
I chose to read the book straight through although not all of it applied to me because I was interested in understanding all the social skills issues presented and how the MacLeod analyzed them and proposed strategies for them, even in cases I didn't need it personally.
While I wouldn't classify myself as someone who struggles with conversation and social situations generally, I do struggle with feeling motivated to make new friends (though I fully recognize the value of building friendships) when I am in situations I don't know anyone. This was particularly salient in my life now as I have relocated and have no social network. The prospect of meeting new people in what feels a very inorganic manner (organic to me is meeting people at work) brought me crippling anxiety. My husband (formerly a psychologist) recommended this to me to help me more intellectually analyze the thought patterns I was falling into.
I found it quite helpful for myself, but also in that the text in its entirety helped me to understand the different types of social anxieties people may be facing at any given time. I think this understanding makes me much better equipped to be supportive of others who may be anxious in interactions with me or others. Given that I understand how overwhelming this feeling can be myself, I feel strongly that the ability to be supportive of others when they experience it is so important.
Niche topic, but potentially high utility if it's something you need.
July 26, 2022
I was expecting this book to improve my conversational skills and social skills, and I don't feel like it really achieved that. Most of the advice is either common sense, too basic, or too general. But, it covers every single basic exhaustively, so if you feel like you're missing something obvious, this book is a useful read.
The book is split into three parts - part one deals with fear, anxiety, self-esteem, and negative thought patterns. Part two deals with conversations. Part three deals with finding and keeping friends.
Parts two and three weren't of much help to me, but I found part one really helpful, especially the section on counter-productive thinking, which I'll certainly read again.
The book is split into three parts - part one deals with fear, anxiety, self-esteem, and negative thought patterns. Part two deals with conversations. Part three deals with finding and keeping friends.
Parts two and three weren't of much help to me, but I found part one really helpful, especially the section on counter-productive thinking, which I'll certainly read again.
February 24, 2018
I don't know why I have this book, or why I decided to read it.
Overall, I guess it's a great book if your social skills are lacking and you aren't good at making friends. But if you have the least bit of social awareness and friendliness, then reading this book isn't really necessary. You might get a couple of good tips out of it but the rest of it is common sense, and not worth the time to read 350+ pages
Overall, I guess it's a great book if your social skills are lacking and you aren't good at making friends. But if you have the least bit of social awareness and friendliness, then reading this book isn't really necessary. You might get a couple of good tips out of it but the rest of it is common sense, and not worth the time to read 350+ pages
August 7, 2020
The book hammers the point that to combat fear, you must expose yourself to it in small doses. That is about the only thing I took away from the book. It definitely needed more applications and more thorough explanations.
December 9, 2019
Didn't really tell me anything that I didn't know
Read
April 23, 2020The book was exceptionally poor. It lacked a clear program to develop any positive change. It was not inspirational or informative. Definitely only a popcorn money maker!
August 19, 2020
Well structured, but pretty basic.
June 10, 2021
very clear and non judgemental writing.
October 1, 2023
"A core part of empathy is accepting that
not everyone looks at the world the same way."
"Learn to get in touch with your own emotions
People can have trouble with emotional empathy."
BOOK: The Social Skills Guidebook: Manage Shyness, Improve Your Conversations, and Make Friends, Without Giving Up Who You Are
AUTHOR:Chris MacLeod
GENRE: #selfhelp #socialskills
RATING: 3.0 ✨️
The Social Skills guide book is a self help book which focuses on how to enhance our personality and find the right balance to fit in socially to have a fulfilling life. First of all the book doesnt say to change our core values , morales or other principles, but the author says how to adjust our character to fit into the right social group for us and to have a satisfactory time with people. The author also highlights about our mental barriers and how to overcome what we lack interms of forming friends, being useful, coming out of our bubble of loneliness. The author encourages the reader to try out new activities, that is out of your comfort zone to have a good result. As we all know coming out of our confort zone is the most important step in becoming more sociable and resourceful but the first step is to have the willingness to change. I would say this book, is a enlightening read but like every selfhelp book, just keep in mind that this also the views and research of a person through their journey and experience, so we have the freedom to take what feels best to us and leave the rest. Don't follow everything you read blindly, just take the best!
not everyone looks at the world the same way."
"Learn to get in touch with your own emotions
People can have trouble with emotional empathy."
BOOK: The Social Skills Guidebook: Manage Shyness, Improve Your Conversations, and Make Friends, Without Giving Up Who You Are
AUTHOR:Chris MacLeod
GENRE: #selfhelp #socialskills
RATING: 3.0 ✨️
The Social Skills guide book is a self help book which focuses on how to enhance our personality and find the right balance to fit in socially to have a fulfilling life. First of all the book doesnt say to change our core values , morales or other principles, but the author says how to adjust our character to fit into the right social group for us and to have a satisfactory time with people. The author also highlights about our mental barriers and how to overcome what we lack interms of forming friends, being useful, coming out of our bubble of loneliness. The author encourages the reader to try out new activities, that is out of your comfort zone to have a good result. As we all know coming out of our confort zone is the most important step in becoming more sociable and resourceful but the first step is to have the willingness to change. I would say this book, is a enlightening read but like every selfhelp book, just keep in mind that this also the views and research of a person through their journey and experience, so we have the freedom to take what feels best to us and leave the rest. Don't follow everything you read blindly, just take the best!
December 1, 2022
This is not a book for people who wish to brush up on their average or slightly below average social abilities, but it does point out areas that require improvement for people who struggle socially to the point where it greatly affects their life and makes them unhappy. This book is for you if you believe that you have no social skills and no friends. The reading in this book can occasionally be too simple and felt like reading an instruction manuel at times, which is why I only awarded it two stars. However, the book does provide helpful advice on how to create and maintain relationships, so if you are having trouble with this, I would suggest reading it. This book offers strategies like losing weight or switching to contact lenses instead of glasses in order to avoid appearing too "edgy" or conservative; I disagree that these measures are necessary to make friends and found the suggestions to be mildly offensive. Overall, I believe this can be the necessary kick in the pants for many individuals, and I strongly suggest it to anyone who feels they are having trouble with their social skills or who simply wants some advice on how to make some changes.
December 31, 2023
One of the most useless books I've ever read. I wasn't expecting some sort of secret magic formula to make friends but there is honestly no real advice here. Some quotes that just made me raise my eyebrows and go "really?":
"If you want to have more brainy conversations, the easiest way to do that is to find some similarly
minded friends." - Okay. This quote pretty much sums up this entire book. Just... go and "find some friends".
Advice on how to end a conversation: "(Speaking on the phone) Well, I’m gonna go. I’ll talk to you later." - Starting to feel like this book was written for aliens who want to blend in.
"Look up what different expressions and mannerisms look like if you have trouble recognizing them
intuitively." / "Being a good friend is a broad concept that’s hard to sum up in a few paragraphs." - There were too many topics that were "outside of the scope" of the book.
"You can find other ways to hang out with people without doing much work yourself: Be invited to hang out." - I get it, the book is trying to cover most scenarios but seeing this written down is crazy...
"If you want to have more brainy conversations, the easiest way to do that is to find some similarly
minded friends." - Okay. This quote pretty much sums up this entire book. Just... go and "find some friends".
Advice on how to end a conversation: "(Speaking on the phone) Well, I’m gonna go. I’ll talk to you later." - Starting to feel like this book was written for aliens who want to blend in.
"Look up what different expressions and mannerisms look like if you have trouble recognizing them
intuitively." / "Being a good friend is a broad concept that’s hard to sum up in a few paragraphs." - There were too many topics that were "outside of the scope" of the book.
"You can find other ways to hang out with people without doing much work yourself: Be invited to hang out." - I get it, the book is trying to cover most scenarios but seeing this written down is crazy...
January 4, 2021
We, as human beings, have a basic need to talk and socialize. Thus, there is no need to be shy of accepting such a need. Be friendly and more outgoing, without getting too sensitive and brooding over your social performance. The comments of other people should matter, but only to the extent that you improve from them; not that they reflect your core values or the judgement of your being. If some negative comment comes related to your social interaction, it indicates only that your particular skill should be polished; it doesn't indicate that your core values are inherently flawed at all or you yourself are deficient at human being level. Improve, improve, improve. That's the only lesson we should learn from social interaction. Any other judgement passed on your social interaction or your perception about yourself in a negative way is of no help in any way whatsoever.
January 12, 2023
This is an analytical book that I recommend referencing on a consistent basis. It is good for anyone at any point in their lives. It reminds you of the social skills that you may forget over time and how to be casual in most settings. This book has taught me much about confidence and being a good friend. I highly recommend it if you feel nervous in social situations. It also goes over a lot of the "why" for why you feel a certain way and gives great practical exercises to better fix your problems.
It is quite long, however. If you are majority uncomfortable with socializing, you should read the whole thing. But if you just want quick advice about how to better your social life, I would use it as a reference book (or guidebook lol) for the situations you have in mind.
It is quite long, however. If you are majority uncomfortable with socializing, you should read the whole thing. But if you just want quick advice about how to better your social life, I would use it as a reference book (or guidebook lol) for the situations you have in mind.
September 20, 2025
The people on your journey through life are what makes life wonderful.
I slowly figured that out throughout the final year of school when I somehow found myself not really engaged in any connections like the ones I saw around me. It sucked sitting alone, especially because I genuinely liked some of my classmates and had an interest in sharing my experiences with like-minded people. The problem was I did not know how. I really did not know how everyone seemed to connect effortlessly. I literally liked a girl in my class and failed to talk to hear for months. I knew I had to change and found this book.
This book is the ultimate book for social skills, covering all the fundamentals. The parts that seemed magic are now simply skills I can upgrade. Whenever I have doubts what to do in social setting I come back to the sections of this book.
While I´m still improving my skills and am far from perfect, I now have the fundamentals I can build on. I can actually enjoy social settings, talk to people I like, explore what others have to offer and form connections that make the situations in life more wonderful with people around me.
I slowly figured that out throughout the final year of school when I somehow found myself not really engaged in any connections like the ones I saw around me. It sucked sitting alone, especially because I genuinely liked some of my classmates and had an interest in sharing my experiences with like-minded people. The problem was I did not know how. I really did not know how everyone seemed to connect effortlessly. I literally liked a girl in my class and failed to talk to hear for months. I knew I had to change and found this book.
This book is the ultimate book for social skills, covering all the fundamentals. The parts that seemed magic are now simply skills I can upgrade. Whenever I have doubts what to do in social setting I come back to the sections of this book.
While I´m still improving my skills and am far from perfect, I now have the fundamentals I can build on. I can actually enjoy social settings, talk to people I like, explore what others have to offer and form connections that make the situations in life more wonderful with people around me.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 72 reviews