How to I force myself to talk to other people?

[ShyGuy3000]

If this has been answered before, sorry! However:

 

What can I do to force myself into situations where I'll talk to people? One suggestion I've heard was go to a coffee shop. Any others? (I'm extremely shy here...)

 

I know nothing in my life is going to change unless I change it, but left to myself, I'll just sit around surfing the internet or playing video games all day.

 

So, what are the best places to hang out that increase the opportunities to casually strike up a conversation with someone, or to increase the odds of someone starting a conversation with me?

[Samedy]

Look for social clubs... Don't rely on meeting people at coffee shops and pubs.. It's easy to go unnoticed and all into the background at those locations.

 

Start small.. Don't wear your watch for a day and casually ask random people for the time.

 

Join a Toast Masters Club (Good for practicing public speaking)

[xxNPxx]

You could always tie yourself to a chair in a room of crowded people with a sign that says, "Ask me about my low interest loans."

 

I'm sure you'll have plenty of conversations whether you want to or not.

 

 

[Hessian]

Take a class at a local community college on a subject that interests you. Every class should give you something to talk about with other people who have similar interests.

[IndigoEye]

Well this couldn't get any easier. Wait tables. can you imagine what TGIFridays is like right now? Hmm?

[xxNPxx]

Well this couldn't get any easier. Wait tables. can you imagine what TGIFridays is like right now? Hmm?

 

Yes jobs help out so much. In my job I talk to 15+ people on any given day. Men and women. Unfortunately for me this means nothing when it comes to dating. But it might help some other guys.

[epsilon2x]

Don't go to a coffee shop. It's too small and quiet. Instead go out to a mall if you're really shy. That way you can bounce around to a ton of different people asking for directions and opinions.

[somethngwrng]

You can't force yourself to talk to anyone by just going somewhere. You have to just throw yourself outside your comfort zone and say 'Ok, I am going to approach this stranger and this is what I have to say'. Even if you are forced to talk to people (for example, classes), it's easy to keep those kind of conversations strictly business, and it doesn't help that much.

 

Keep in mind, often people are just not interested in talking and will purposely make it difficult to hold a conversation, but don't let it get you down. Practice makes perfect with everything.

[SoMuchLove]

You don't have to force yourself to do anything. If you like surfing the net and playing games... then you like it! Just cuz people go out and party, are more social, and this or that doesn't mean they are "living it up" better than you are. If you like being quiet it okay because you may be an introvert(I am).

 

Just be casual and think as if starting a convo isn't a big deal because you do it all the time.

[mr_iwi]

Yes jobs help out so much. In my job I talk to 15+ people on any given day. Men and women. Unfortunately for me this means nothing when it comes to dating. But it might help some other guys.

 

My job really helped me out. I work somewhere which has about 30,000 customers, and as about 90% of them are younger than me and drunk then they don't expect you to be stuffy and polite to them. They also don't expect you to be cheeky and sarcastic with them, but it does make you memorable.

 

Get a bar job.

[Altruist]

..or go to church, the best being the evangelical or pentecostal type where people are not so consevative and stuck up. I guarantee you that if you immerse yourself in this, you will be a chatterbox in no time.