The Social Skills Guidebook: Manage Shyness, Improve Your Conversations, and Make Friends, Without Giving Up Who You Are

I've dealt with shyness and social anxiety for pretty much my whole life. For as long as I can remember, I didn't know how to approach people or keep conversations going. I was known as the weird kid when I was younger and had trouble making friends. This book has been a lifesaver for me. It covers nearly every conversation scenario out there and tells you exactly how to navigate them. The explanations are thorough and get straight to the point, unlike other books which tend to go off on a tangent. This was exactly what I need as someone who feels developmentally behind. I wanted to be formally taught these skills and not just be told this is common sense. The part of the book that addresses mental barriers to socializing has worked wonders to manage my situation. The most useful things for me were the ways to correct distorted thinking and lifestyle changes that improve mood. I used to get actual panic attacks in certain situations, but now I have the tools to get through them with ease. I feel a lot happier and more confident with myself now. Thank you Chris MacLeod for providing this wonderful resource.

This book is outstanding, incredibly well-organized and well-written. It is extremely useful for people of all ages and across the entire spectrum of shyness and social awkwardness. The material is presented in such a natural and non-judgemental way, which is why I believe this author is so effective. He helps the reader to anticipate what each new stage of emerging from shyness might bring, which is both protective and wise, to help prepare the reader for every step of the way. I highly recommend this book and his website!

If you feel you're lacking certain social skills, this is a pretty solid book. Overall it's very well written and thorough, but it may be a bit too thorough for most people. Unless you're severely socially impaired, you'll probably find 90% of this book to be common sense, with the other 10% being actually useful advice. I do think it's worth reading because I definitely walked away with some new insights, but I'd recommend skimming over sections you don't feel you need help with, otherwise this book might feel like a waste of time.

I somehow manage to get by socially in superficial settings (although I always feel almost ill after any 5-minute water cooler chat and have to go be by myself for a bit to recover) and even have a job requiring public speaking about 30% of the time (which I absolutely hate, but the remaining 70% of the time is solitary, and I just don't think I'd survive for more than a few days if I had to work as part of a team or even share an office with anyone). I've only had one or two friends in my entire life - and those were back in middle school. Ever since, I've been so alone it would take weeks for anyone to notice if I died. Every single interaction with every single human being has always felt like an "obstacle course" that I just have to get past.. preferably as quickly as possible, and hopefully with as little damage as possible. The idea that interactions can be enjoyable is novel to me. Groundbreaking. Earth-shattering. I've read ALL the books (probably well over a hundred books over the years), had ALL the therapy, and tried ALL the techniques - with barely any results. So I've been saying I might have to write my own book on how to function socially, if I figure it out eventually... Well, this book makes me believe I may not have to write my own book after all!! It feels like someone has already written it. Finally something that makes me feel like I am not alone in my struggles. The author just gets it. To use a metaphor, other books on social skills are like "just get in your car and drive 3 miles to the north and then you'll see a shopping mall." This book is like "this is how you get into the car and adjust your seat. Here is the gas pedal and here is the brake. And this is how you use the GPS. And this is how you will be able to recognize the shopping mall. And this is what you do if you get lost on your way." That's just what I need. Maybe to some people it's obvious why they want to socialize and what they do with friends once they acquire some, not to mention how to go about acquiring them in the first place. But to me, it is not. It's something I've never known before. It's something I've had so little modeling for, growing up, that I didn't even have the slightest idea about how things work. This book just fills these gaps - these abysses! - in my knowledge in a most satisfying way. I'm actually kind of excited to try to improve, now that I have at least some concrete guidance on how to do it. Thank you, Chris MacLeod, from the bottom of my heart.

This is the first book I would recommend to anyone who is having difficulty with shyness, awkwardness, or social challenges.. There's a great deal of practical, down to earth advice in this book. I've read too many other books in a similar vein which make a bunch of wild promises and feel closer to your typical "self-help" book for lack of a better term. This isn't one of those books. A few of the things I really liked about this book: - The emphasis on taking small, realistic steps towards a greater goal. There's a really good balance between starting from where you are at, but also keeping an eye on the bigger picture - Helpful suggestions. Usually in these kinds of books the suggestions are either completely obvious and inane or too crazy and out there. This book has some really helpful tips for troubleshooting your way around some of the usual problems that come up when you're struggling with social issues. - Comprehensive. This book does a really good job of not only addressing social interactions, but also guiding you through various ideas and exercises to help with other areas affecting your social skills.

I didn't buy this. My wife bought it for herself, so she should be reviewing it. I gave it 3 stars because she still doesn't have any social skills. She darts into traffic just to avoid people on the sidewalk. I thought it was Covid at first, but I have learned it's because she is deathly afraid of common pleasantries. Our small talk has maybe even gotten worse upon her reading this. She now wants to talk about things like me leaving my socks around, or not doing the dishes enough. No social awareness. 3 stars.

most helpful social skills book by far. so in depth and specific. bought it for my sister and its helped her so much too. a must buy for social anxiety

This book helped me a lot with understanding how to overcome overwhelming interactions

This book was enjoyable to read because it made me realize what I was doing incorrectly and taught me techniques. I highly recommend this book.

Thanks Chris, first for me is that you've created the best resource online in social skills that I know of. I definitely prefer it in book form, some word selections are different but are still comparative to the online counterpart. The organization and structure is perfect, I will need to reread it every so often to keep retention in conjunction with experience to solidify the appropriate memories and habits. One factor that motivated me in to purchasing this book was that you made your website free and widely accessible with the clear formatting and intuitive, simple to understand style in which you approach this complex subject. I always enjoy reading non-fiction that changes my view of the world and would accompany me for a long journey.

The book was in dirty condition when it arrived, with the cover feels a bit slimy too. Despite the condition, fortunately it doesn't effect the pages inside, so the book is still readable.

Muy buen libro, te enseña bastantes cosas útiles para desarrollar tus habilidades sociales, recomendado al 100%

I have to be honest with you, I didn't expect much from this book. I have read a lot of books on self confidence but I must say that I was pleasantly surprise by this book. What made this book an amazing purchase was all the little golden nuggetts you get here and there among the many pages of already heard of ideas. Most of the ideas in this book appeared to me as either common sense or an old idea. But like I said it's the tidbits of info you get in the vast sea of fluff that honestly makes me happy that I bought it.