Social skills are essential to all forms of success. To make and keep friends, you need to establish a connection with them. To thrive in a business setting, you will need to be comfortable giving speeches and have confidence that you can persuade others. If you do not feel this way, that is alright. It just means you’ve come to the right place. If you read this book, you will be taken through all of the steps to creating long-lasting and fulfilling relationships, both with yourself and others. You must think well of yourself before you can put yourself out there with your best foot forward. That’s why before we do anything else, we’re going to tackle the issue of low self-esteem. I’m going to help you gain an understanding of why you might be struggling with it. Once you know the root of a problem, you will be so much closer to fixing it. Another roadblock that holds many people back from a fulfilling social life is shyness. If you can relate to this, you’re in luck, because in this book you will find an entire chapter dedicated to helping you overcome this problem. You’ll learn how to gain the courage to take social risks. Don’t worry; they’ll start out small and then gradually increase until you look up and find that all of your social fears have been faced down. When you learn to see meeting new people as an opportunity instead of a source of anxiety, you will finally be able to tap into your full potential. Here is when we’re getting into the part you’ve been waiting for. Communication is an art. You can have a great message but not express it correctly, and it ends up being misunderstood. As you read this book, you will learn the do’s and don’ts of communication so what you say will get the results you want. You are going to learn what makes for a likable personality. This doesn’t mean people-pleasing or putting out a false image of yourself. It is all about being friendly, open, and interested in your conversations with people. Ask them questions about themselves. Tell them bits of information about you so you can get to know each other. Wherever you are, be present at that moment and get the most out of it that you can. You’ve probably heard a lot of buzz about emotional intelligence lately. The use of social skills is actually an aspect of this very concept- the others being empathy, self-awareness, self-regulation, and motivation. All of these traits work together to create an understanding of people, which means you will have a better idea of what to say (or not to say). For example, when you see someone looking upset, are you concerned about them and want to figure out a way to make them feel better? If yes, then you are already well on your way to accomplishing everything else we’ll talk about in this book. This means everything you want to become is right around the corner.