How To Meet New People?

Being beings with a pronounced social nature, we need relationships, contact, and connection. Faced with this inclination, we find people who find the process of socializing very difficult. They are not able to enjoy relationships that they really need. This can lead to frustration and increased feelings of loneliness.

Therefore, it is important to know some of the strategies or contexts in which we can meet new people, socialize and even expand our circle of friends. It is essential to understand that communication and assertive conversation are the best way to get closer to others.

Meeting new people: the challenge of enriching our social circle

As we know, conversation is a good way to express ideas, opinions, feelings and goals, being in many cases a basic aspect to start new relationships.

Therefore, it is important to develop the ability to communicate in an informal and friendly way. This will help reduce anxiety and fear in situations of high uncertainty in which we can meet new people.

Nonverbal language

Non-verbal language covers more than half of the information we transmit, being useful for communicating and projecting the level of receptivity towards others. To help us improve in this field we can use the SOFTEN technique  for its acronym in English. This technique takes into account 6 aspects:

• Smiling. It is an indicator of an open and friendly attitude, with an adequate disposition to communicate with others.

• Open arms. In the case of meeting new people, this gesture suggests that you are friendly and willing to create a new contact. On the other hand, during the conversation, show that you are receptive and are listening to what he is saying.
• Lean forward. With this movement, we show interest in what the other is telling, encouraging them to continue with the speech.
• Touch. The most socially accepted form is a warm handshake. With this, you show an open and friendly attitude when meeting new people.
• Eye contact. Direct eye contact shows that you are listening and that you want to know more about it. But it must be natural, for short periods so as not to overdo it. Therefore, during the conversation it is not necessary to do it all the time, you can change your gaze and focus on other places, for example, the mouth.

• Settle your head. The movement shows that you understand what the other is talking about. Therefore, encourage them to continue the conversation. In addition, it serves to attract the attention of new people.

Verbal language

According to Gabor (2011), you have to take an active position during verbal communication. In other words, being the first to say hello helps start a conversation and express our ideas and opinions. In addition, it is necessary to approach the other in a direct and friendly way. It is important to note that some people may not be willing to meet new people and convey this state to us without using words.

On the other hand, there are different ways to get closer to meeting new people and breaking the ice. At a certain point, a compliment can serve as a sign of welcome. A second way to do this is to comment on something you are carrying, for example a book or a musical instrument.

When the ice has been broken, it is easier to follow a conversation: the dialogue itself is going to give us many more clues as to where we can orient ourselves.

Places to meet new people

It is true that daily life goes around specific contexts, such as high school, university, work or home. This limits the number of people we can have contact with. Here is the importance of getting out of the routine and opening up to new activities, because new contexts mean new people.

One of the options is to volunteer. Here you will not only help those who need it most, but you will also meet new people with the same interests as you. This supports them to be able to communicate more easily, since they have a common theme. In addition, constant contact will also help us to improve the quality of some of our relationships.

Going out with friends and having them introduce us to other friends is another option. This is an ideal situation, since the security that the people we already know and even that we estimate give us can give us extra confidence.

Another available alternative is to enroll in extracurricular activities, such as a sport. It is common for people to sign up for these activities not only to practice or learn them, but also to meet new people.

Technology, an ally to meet new people

ICTs have revolutionized many aspects of our life and perhaps the social one is one of the most. With them, contact and long-distance relationships have taken center stage.

As a result, it has been found that in cyberspace people can be exercised as social subjects. This context can facilitate relationships with both friends and new people. Being ideal for people who are more shy or inhibited, since it can be used as a training for relationships in real life.

Its use may include pages or applications to meet new people. It is important to take into account what you are looking for, since there are multiple options, each with its own characteristics. Some are to find a partner and others are to meet people with similar affinities to ours.

Another option can be online role-playing video games; that is to say, a common taste that can give for very long conversations in which one can enrich the other. In addition, in this field there are many games that require the alliance of several people to achieve certain objectives.

There are always opportunities to enrich our social circle

As we can see, there are multiple contexts for relating to new people, either face to face or virtually.

In addition, in this article we have explained different ways to break the ice and communicate more correctly. This will give you the possibility to get closer to more people and, why not, to increase your social circle. So you no longer have excuses, there are multiple ways to meet new people.