Socially awkward: Where can a socially awkward person find tips on being slightly personable?

I am not looking for tips on meeting potential partners. I am looking for tips on how to interact with people that are casual friends (neighbors)



Neighbors have invited my girlfriend and I over. They are our age(mid twenties, early thirties). They are very cool and casual. Very laid back atmosphere.Socially awkward: Where can a socially awkward person find tips on being slightly personable?
A lot of people who have a hard time in social situations benefit at first by focusing on the other person. My advice is to appear interested in conversations, keep your facial expressions going, meaning show the right expressions to stories they are telling-they will become more at ease knowing you're listening and right there you will get in their good graces.



Find the right moment to ask a question. By simply letting them do the talking first and listening, they will feel validated and will turn to you and want to know more about you.



Most first impressions are the ones that stick, it's never a bad thing to make the other person feel as though they have your total focus. It builds a trust fast.



Good Luck, and relax and allow yourself to enjoy a couple of people who may become good friendsSocially awkward: Where can a socially awkward person find tips on being slightly personable?
One thing to do is to ask your close friends and family-- for example, your girlfriend, your parents-- what you can do to seem less awkward. if they're honest with you, they'll point out some of the strange/awkward social habits/mannerisms that they've noticed you using and they'll make suggestions.



Beyond little details, the thing that makes you seem more awkward than anything else is FEELING awkward. Many people can pick up on your social reservations, your self-consciousness, your discomfort-- even if they can't articulate the weird sensation they're having about you. So try to just be comfortable and not to worry about ';what they're tinking about me';- this is something people will percieve. Just focus on them, rather than how you're doing, and you will FEEL more natural. This, in turn, will make you seem less awkward.



Finally, keep in mind that even people who seem confident are usually thinking about themselves. Humans are almost always self-coscious and self-absorbed: not in a bad way, but in such a way that they don't pay as much attention to you as you think they are. Every person is usually paying more attention to himself than to those around him, so just try to remember that. Just as you're thinking ';Damn, what i said was akward!'; your confident friend might be thinking ';Damn, I'm hot';-- and while thinking that, he's not thinking about you! That's obviously an exaggerated example, but you see what i mean.
Just smile and ask them how their year was and if they're redy to get it over with.