6 Habits of People With High Social

Skills
Highly sociable people remain grounded in the
moment

Thomas Oppong
Sep 7 · 6 min read
Photo by Miguel Á. Padriñán from Pexels

Good social skills are important for building deeper and meaningful relationships and
succeeding in your career.

Think of social skills as the interpersonal skills that make interactions with others
mutually rewarding and beneficial.

People with amazing social habits show a willingness to invest fully in social, personal,
and professional relationships. They approach any social situation with excitement
instead of anxiety, boredom and dread. They

Learning to manage your social skills and play well with others is an important part of
growth and maturity.

While social skills might seem intrinsic to many people, they simply do not come
naturally to many people. The good news is, we can improve our social skills. One way
to boost your interpersonal skills is to learn from others. People with high social skills
have a lot in common.

1. They practice mindfulness

Highly sociable people remain grounded in the moment. Details are crucial to building
deeper relationships — be observantTapez une équation ici .

Being observant means being aware of your environment, of the way you share your
environment with the world around you, and of how you invite others into your world.

Socially intelligent people are better at honing their senses, soaking in their
surroundings, taking in the intricate details to keep a conversation interesting.

Being observant can keep you from being bored while also helping you make the world
a more engaging place for others.

People with high social skills usually store away a lot of random knowledge and trivia,
pay keen attention to details, and can usually spot a liar a mile away because their
observations teach them to read body language well.

They are also usually excellent at listening to hear versus listening to speak and have
outstanding critical thinking and problem-solving skills.

Observant people notice when your emotions are on your face or your heart is on your
sleeve and will actively engage you in conversation, not to be nosy, but to help you feel
better.
2. They practice active listening
“When people talk, listen completely. Most people never listen.” ― Ernest
Hemingway

You are probably thinking that everyone listens, and you are right.

The problem is that some people listen to speak while people with high social skills
listen to hear. When you listen to speak (passive listening), you merely let the other
person speak until it is your turn.

Typically, when you listen to speak, you are rehearsing your end of the conversation (or
argument!) in your head versus actually taking in what the other person is saying.

When you listen to hear (active listening), though, you acquire and compile information,
intentionally try to take in and understand the other person’s point of view, and you
learn something about the other person or situation.

Listening to hear means you limit internal and external distractions and give the speaker
your full attention.

Active listening calls on your sense of hearing and on your ability to exhibit compassion
and empathy.

3. They are interested in people’s stories

Dale Carnegie once said, “You can make more friends in two months by becoming
interested in other people than you can in two years by trying to get other people
interested in you.”

People with high social skills don’t just tell stories about themselves, they how to turn
the tables and invite other people to tell stories of their own — they are interested in
people’s stories. And they remember what people tell them.

They make others feel worthy of their time. They make it easy for others to feel like
they can talk to them without holding back.

Maya Angelou once said, “I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people
will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”

To improve your social skill, it’s absolutely crucial to make others feel comfortable
around you. Invite them to tell their stories — and be genuinely interested in what they
have to say.

“Interested people are interesting.”

Ask better and ended questions — be interested in the other person’s story, experiences,
challenges, how they get through their day, and what they do to get through their lives.

It’s a key habit that can improve your social skills. If you’re interested in people’s
stories, they will be interested in yours.

4. They are curious about others

Curiosity highly desirable social skill — it makes you want to know more about the new
people you meet and about the people you interact with on a regular basis.

When a friend buys a new home, a family member reaches a new personal goal, or a
new colleague joins your team, curiosity is what prompts you to ask questions and get
to know more about their big ideas, breakthroughs and achievements and how they got
there.

It is also what prompts you to lean on another social skill — listening to hear instead of
to be heard. An added benefit of curiosity is that in addition to making you delve into
others gives them a sense of value in being heard and can help you learn new skills that
benefit you.

Research suggests that being curious can strengthens our relationships.

“Being interested is more important in cultivating a relationship and maintaining a

relationship than being interesting; that’s what gets the dialogue going,” says Todd B.
Kashdan, one of the researchers. “It’s the secret juice of relationships,” he says.

5. They have a sense of humour

A sense of humour is not only a valuable social skill, it is also a great tool to help you
get through life.

People with a well-developed sense of humour can laugh with, not at others. Even more
important, they can laugh at themselves.

When laughing at others, make sure you do not veer into damaging territory because
laughing at someone and laughing at their expense are two very, very different things.

When laughing at yourself, be sure not to cross the line into self-deprecation or become
so derogatory in your view or opinion of yourself that you inadvertently lose your sense
of self-worth or lower your self-esteem.

People with high social skills know when to laugh at themselves, when to adapt their
self-view, and how to see themselves from the viewpoint of others.
6. They show empathy
Theodore Roosevelt once said, “No one cares how much you know, until they know
how much you care.”

People with high social skills practice empathy — they recognise how people are
expressing themselves. And they can vividly imagine other’s experiences as if they
were their own without being judgmental.

They can accurately perceive the emotions in themselves and others. This makes it easy
for others to get along with them on a personal, social or professional level.

Roman Krznaric, Ph.D., a founding faculty member of The School of Life says empathy
is, “the ability to step into the shoes of another person, aiming to understand their
feelings and perspectives and to use that understanding to guide our actions.”

High level of empathy allows you to develop and maintain good relationships, inspire
and influence others.

They also know how to agree to disagree and respect the views of those around them.
They have respect and tolerance for other people and a favourable, optimistic view of
the world.

Every social situation is different and there isn’t always a “perfect” way to connect
meaningfully with others. But with practice, the nuances of social interaction will flow a
lot more naturally for you.

Starting today, begin to hone your social skills by listening more, being curious about
others, practicing mindfulness and showing empathy.