Having a friendly and outgoing demeanour can smoothen out most of the obstacles that we face in life and are the secret to success for many well-known people. The ability to make friends quickly and easily and maintain those relationships will come in handy in any profession and almost every other aspect of our day to day life. We are here to give you a few secret tips that will bring out your natural charm!
1. Eye Contact
Maintaining eye contact during a conversation helps to build a rapport between the participants. It signifies honesty and openness and helps people relate to each other. However, too much of even a good thing can be bad, so make sure you don’t stare creepily at them for too long!
2. Smile Often
By smiling at a person, we indicate that we are genuinely happy to see them and interested in what they want to say. A smile can be a powerful tool for building bridges. A genuine smile can melt even the hardest of hearts. So make sure you smile a lot when speaking to someone new, as this will make the other person feel welcome and wanted.
3. Be Honest
Politeness is important, but not at the expense of being disingenuous. As they say, you cannot fool all the people all the time, and if you are insincere, sooner or later, people will catch on, which will then hurt your credibility amongst friends. Learning the art of telling the truth nicely is very important. If you want to compliment someone, find something that you genuinely like about them, and compliment them on it instead of making up a lie.
4. Be Gracious
Learn to forgive and forget. There is nothing more unattractive than a grown adult who cannot let go of things and holds petty grudges forever. Even if someone had hurt you in the past, knowingly or otherwise, learn to get over it and move on. Genuinely charming people are those who don’t discriminate in their kindness.
5. Appropriate Physical Contact
All humans crave contact, both physical and emotional, to one degree or another. Non-sexual touch is an important mode of human communication and bonding (not that sexual touch isn’t equally important). Touching someone affectionately, holding hands or a friendly pat on the back can create positive feelings between two people. The same also applies to children, who arguably crave contact even more than adults. However, learning the boundaries of appropriate and affectionate contact is an important facet of social education.
6. Names and Dates
Remembering someone’s name after the first meeting, or remembering the important dates in the life of a new friend (such as birthdays and anniversaries), can make them feel important and valued. This helps in building strong relationships. Some of the most charming people have an excellent memory for names and dates, but it is not something you have to be born with. In this age of technological advancement, all you really need to do to make someone feel important and loved is put in a little effort. People will not forget your thoughtfulness.
We hope that the tips mentioned above will be useful to you in making loads of new friends and maintain those friendships for a long time to come. Have fun!