Social skills improve with practice. The more time you spend interacting with others, the better you become at social interaction (makes sense, right?)
Unfortunately, finding the opportunity to practice can be difficult. If you want to be a better runner, you can lace on your shoes and run around the block, but if you want to get better at social skills, where do you go to practice?
That's what this article is all about. Sit tight, and I'll tell you three of my favorite hobbies that helped me improve my social skills -- and that can help you, too!
1) Improv Theater
In improv, everything is made up on the spot. No script, no planning ahead of time. You just go out and make a scene from nothing. The scenes are often hilarious, sometimes poignant, and always entertaining.
As I've noted elsewhere, improv is a lot like social interaction. And the same principles that equip you to feel confident striding on stage and making a scene from nothing will also help you to have confidence and competence in social situations.
And, just like social interaction, improv is for everyone. You don't have to be naturally funny or theatrical. Improv works based on a few simple principles (like accepting and building on what your partner brings to the scene), and any improv class will teach you to apply those principles like a pro.
In an improv class, you start by doing lots of fun games and exercises that help you become comfortable with using your imagination and thinking on your feet, and then you start making some scenes with other students. It's super fun, and you will often make good friends with the other students.
Improv has taught me to have more confidence, think on my feet, and be comfortable when I'm pushed outside my comfort zone. Take a moment and search for improv theater classes in your area -- then sign up! You'll be happy you did.
2) Partner Dancing
Partner dancing is a great way to meet people and become more comfortable in your own skin.
I'm not talking about choreographed dancing (although that can be fun too!) Instead, I'm referring to dances like salsa, swing, or ballroom, where you're paired up with someone and you make up the dance as you go along.
Much like improv, anyone can learn partner dancing. There are tons of beginners classes designed for people with no experience, and it doesn't take long to get the basics down. And once you have a few classes under your belt, you'll find that you move with more grace and confidence in your everyday life, which will help you make positive first impressions.
Plus, dancing allows you to meet new people. Many cities have social dancing events, where people go to meet others to dance with. You might dance with a dozen people during the course of the night, which means you get a dozen opportunities to practice conversation, get to know someone else, and make a new friend!
Bottom line: Dancing is a great skill, it's a lot of fun, and it will help you socially. Give it a try!
3) Toastmasters Public Speaking
Toastmasters is a public speaking club that is active in over 100 countries. It is a phenomenal way to overcome social anxiety, get better at public speaking, and learn how to communicate clearly and effectively. I did Toastmasters and loved it -- you can see me giving a Toastmasters speech here.
You don't need speaking experience to join Toastmasters -- most people who join have never given a speech before.
Toastmasters clubs usually meet once a week, and follow a simple format. Everyone gets the chance to speak for about a minute at every meeting, by giving an impromptu answer to an interesting question (ie, "What would you do if you were president?") Then, 2-3 people will give a prepared speech, about a topic that they chose. After that, someone will offer constructive, positive feedback to the people who gave a speech.
Toastmasters works wonders on your social skills, because it gives you consistent opportunities to practice and to get good feedback. Instead of practicing blindly, you'll get expert advice from people who want to help you succeed. And you'll have the opportunity to practice every week, so you will improve quickly. There is probably a Toastmasters club near you, so check them out!
Social Skills Hobbies
There you have it -- three hobbies that improve your social skills.
All three of these hobbies have helped me in my own life, and I strongly encourage you to give them a try.
Are there any hobbies that have helped you in your social skills journey? Share them in the comments!
7 Comments on “3 Hobbies That Teach Social Skills”
Watched your Toastmasters speech Dan. Nicely presented. You must be close to being a Distinguished Toastmaster? I stopped Toastmasters after 6 months. Need to get back into it.
The three hobbies you mentioned certainly teach social skills. If someone feels not ready for such seemingly tough encounters, join a more basic class that requires less interaction but STILL requires it. Meetup.com can give you great ideas.
Keep doing the occasional Tweets too man. It’s been awhile. I’ve tweeted you to try inspire ya!
Ah yes, improvisation….I’ve always been a huge fan of improvisation. It’s fun. It works on your wit, but never thought how much it can improve your social skills..
Social interaction is a 2-way street, so when the other person isn’t contributing to the interaction it’s hard to work with the improvisation of real life situation when on stage both people know it’s a scene and have soemthign to work with. That’s why I’ve gotten into more advanced with the other person giving only 1-word answer.
Toastmasters will get more into that.
Hi, Dan. One acquaintance I know engaged in a lot of Live Action Role Play. The difficulty, for him, was that the roles were fairly prescribed in this kind of setting, whereas real life is a lot more unpredictable. But I would think it’s a great place to start to learn to interact.
One class I took as part of my counseling curriculum as a therapist was group counseling. I thought that was a really great class to teach the skills of listening, empathizing, and understanding where others are coming from. Do you think group coaching might be a good way for people to improve their communication skills?
Hi Steve. I think you’ve hit the nail on the head. LARPing is a good way for people to get their feet wet in social interaction — the fact that it is relatively scripted and prescribed means that it’s easier to be socially competent in that setting. The problem is that it’s also limited (there’s a limit to the amount of real intimacy and social growth you can experience doing something like LARPing.) So the hope is that the connections that begin with LARPing (or similar activities) would eventually transition to encompassing “real” life as well. Or in other words — it’s great if you can connect with someone during a LARP, but it’s even better if you can let that initial connection turn into a friendship that lasts even after the foam swords have been put away.
And as for group coaching — yes, I think it could be really helpful. The challenge there is finding people who are similar ability levels. When I was young I did a social group for Asperger’s and it was useless for me because all activities were aimed at the lowest functioning members of the group. Since I was higher functioning, I was not challenged or helped by any of the activities. But if you are in a group of people who are working on the same things as you, then it could make a lot of sense to do group coaching.
Hobbies that have helped me in my social skills journey: 1. Theater (acting), 2. playing games, and 3. attending fun parties.
This is going to a very beautiful end of this journey of improve you social skills. Many thing i have to mentioned in my comment but I don’t want be a lecturer. Your effort on building empathy was so good. Thank you very much for your awesome contribution.
I’m doing an improv beginners class now but I was wondering if I should stay with Improv or maybe try to complete as many of the activities above as I can? I’m not sure if I want to be doing improv for the rest of my life in order to retain the social skills learned from it, I want to do it and then use it in other areas of my life. I am a 20 yr old college student and I play a lot of sport as well just to give you an idea of who I am 🙂