- What do you mean by social skills
- Different types of social skills
- Why social skills are important
- How to develop and improve social skills for students.
You may have noticed how some of your friends are able to form a rapport with just anyone around them.
They may not need to know the person for long, but can easily start a conversation and proong it for hours. This simply means that they have great social skills.
Social skills are interpersonal skills. It is the ability of a person to communicate effectively with another.
It is the most important skill required not only by students but also by adults and professionals.
It is through these social skills that bonds are formed, work runs smoothly and decisions are made.
The importance of social skills can not be undermined. Social skills are needed in every sphere of life irrespective of age or gender.
They are skills that help you communicate, interact and build relations around you.
However, you may notice that some may have great social skills while others shy away from interacting with people.
It is of utmost importance to develop social skills. Social Skills for the pre-deciders of success in the future.
It is advisable to train yourself to improve your social skills while you are a student. Social skills are important for students and even more important for professionals.
It is generally considered that those with good social skills are successful in their careers. In fact some career decisions can be taken based on the level of your social skills.
There are jobs that are more lucrative if you have great social skills like marketing jobs, psychologists, teachers among others
So, let’s look at a list of social skills for students that may help them to prepare for the future. Though this list may not be exhaustive or conclusive, it gives an overall idea of some of the important social skills for jobs.
- Listening and observing
- Facial expressions
- Eye Contact while conversing
- Giving orders to others
- Taking orders from others
- Respecting others
- Showing compassion to others
These are just some of the important social skills for students. As mentioned above, it is not an exhaustive list and many more skills can be added to form the core list of social skills for students.
Importance of Social Skills
1. For Building Bonds
One of the benefits of having good social skills is that it builds bonds of friendship that could last a lifetime. These bonds are useful when it comes to building careers or even starting a family.
Great social skills allow you to talk and interact with others effectively. At the same time you are able to listen to the other person. What more can a friend ask for?
A person who is able to listen as well as talk with them. This is the starting of your bonds of friendship.
Apart from strong bonds of friendship, it also builds good relationships with colleagues and higher ups in the workplace.
2. Academic Success
Social skills are also important for academic success. While in school or college, you come across students who are introverted while others may be extroverts.
The students who are introverted refrain from clearing doubts during class hours or are too shy to answer in class.
This leads to questions and doubts which remain unanswered throughout the academic year. Undoubtedly, this leads to poor performance in examinations.
On the other hand, a student who is able to effectively communicate with the teacher, asking doubts and answering in class is able to clear doubts as and when they arise.
Therefore, it is evident that good social skills directly lead to better academic performances.
3. Better Quality of Life
Social skills for students also directly leads to better quality of life. For better quality of life, there are two most important aspects that need to be covered, that is, livelihood and strong relationships.
Both these aspects need great social skills in order to achieve them. One can not earn a livelihood without social interactions and communication with the public at large.
Also, relationships can not be built without effective communication. Therefore social skills are a must for anyone to lead a better quality of life.
4. Social Skills for Troubleshooting
One of the benefits of having good social skills is that it can get you out of trouble anytime. Being able to work your way out of trouble requires good communication skills.
Communication skills form an integral part of social skills required for students. Studies have shown that a lack of communications is one of the foremost problems that have led to more juvenile delinquents over the recent years.
Difficulties with language and communication skills appear to be prevalent among juvenile offenders, with estimates of those falling into the poor or very poor categories ranging from 46 to 67%; overall, up to 90% of juvenile offenders demonstrated language skills below average.
Lack of communication between parents and teenagers is a cause of juvenile delinquency.The important social skill of communication is lacking in many households.
This social skill must be developed right from a very young age. Lack of proper communication between members of the family may lead to the young people feeling the lack of unity, understanding or trust.
These feelings may lead to a lower self-esteem or confidence in themselves. As a result, the teenager may lose their sense of individuality and may, in turn, participate in activities that are frowned upon just to boost their confidence.
The teenager may follow peers blindly which results in them adopting a lifestyle that is unhealthy. Some of these lifestyles include shoplifting to get items that they cannot afford or they are not supposed to use such as cigarettes.
Although the teenagers are aware that these behaviors are wrong, they still do them in the hope that they will be accepted by their peers.
5. Great Career Prospects
Importance of social skills can be seen as a boost for a great career. In a workplace, you need to interact with other members from various other departments of the company.
This requires a good amount of social skills. Team interaction, communication with colleagues and ability to take and give orders for an integral part of any company interactions. With good social skills, the greater the career prospects.
Now that we have seen the importance of social skills for students, the question arises how to develop social skills and improve them?
There are several ways one can develop social skills. Here are a few ways you can try to develop important social skills for students.
1. Listen, Observe, Learn
One of the best ways of how to develop social skills is to listen to others around you, observe their actions and mannerisms and learn from them. It is the most effective way of developing social skills.
As you listen, you tend to pick up new vocabulary that will help you to communicate better. Listening to others is also a sign of showing that the other person’s views matter.
Observe the mannerisms of people around you. Pick up the good mannerisms from others and try to inculcate it in your own actions on a daily basis.
2. Socialise Often
Another one of the tips for improving social skills is to interact and socialise with people. Socialising helps you to increase your interactive base.
If you are an introvert then it may seem a bit difficult to socialise, but with time it gets easier. For example, you are a shy person who doesn’t socialise often.
In this case you can make a small beginning by interacting with those in your immediate vicinity. Like your neighbours or your local market shopkeeper.
Make it a point to talk to those around you first. From here you can make a small start and then advance to larger social gatherings.
3. Make Conversation About Others
People love to talk about themselves. If it’s not about their achievements, it may be about their experiences. Whatever it is, people love to talk about themselves.
This is your true test. Make sure that you listen to others talking about themselves and encourage them to do so.
The conversation may seem boring and monotonous, but it’s the best way to build your social skills. You must show that you are interested in their stories. This way more people will be encouraged to talk and interact with you more.
While you converse with others, it is also necessary to compliment the other person every now and then. This boosts the confidence of the other person who will now be more than happy to communicate with you.
4. Join a Club
Your residential society will most probably have an entertainment or social interaction club. The best advice is to join these clubs to interact with different people.
If you like working out, you can even join your local gym and make some friends there too. Joining a club gets you introduced to like minded people and people who share the same interest as you.
Starting a conversation with such people may be much easier as you have common topics to discuss.
5. Watch Ted Talks for Starters
TED Talks are influential videos of people from around the world. Watching these videos can inspire you to get out of your shell and get out there.
6. Maintain Eye Contact
While conversing, you must maintain eye contact with the other person. Facial expressions and mannerism also form a very important part of communication.
One of the best ways of how to improve social skills for students is to practice talking in front of a mirror. Here, you can see yourself how others will perceive you.
Practice making eye contact and maintaining the right facial expressions and mannerisms while talking.
7. Participate in Debates and Discussions in College
As a student, you will be exposed to a number of interactive sessions like debates, discussions, and seminars. It is best to participate in these interactive sessions.
8. Stay up To Date
Staying up to date with current affairs can avoid situations where you have nothing much to talk about. Reading and keeping yourself up to date is one of the best solutions for how to improve social skills.
When you are at a loss for words, you can always depend on current affairs to fill up a quiet gap. Thus, eliminating the fear of social interactions.
9. Accept Other View Points
Listening and accepting other people’s points also forms a vital part of developing social skills. Be open to others ideas while working in a team.
Accept the ideas and work with the team. If you are not completely convinced of how another person’s idea will work, you must learn to politely refuse or politely explain the drawbacks of following that particular idea. You must be able to convince the other team members.
At the same time, you have to be open to criticism. Accept negative feedback positively and try to understand the reason for the rejection instead of going on the defence.
Social skills form the backbone of any human interaction. Whether you are a student, a professional or a stay at home mom or dad, social skills are needed everywhere.
It paves the way for greater social interactions and happy, content lives. Without the basic social skills, interacting and communicating with others will be tough and challenging.