SOCIAL EMPOWERMENT THROUGH IMPROVED SOCIAL SKILLS

By Kristel Rose B. Magluyan

What are social skills?

• Social skills are used to communicate and interact with others– Verbally– Non-verbally

• Social skills are the building blocks of social interactions

Advantages of improved social skills:

• More and better relationships

• Better communication

• Greater efficiency

• Advancing career prospects

• Increased Overall happiness

Ways to improve social skills

Listen“Nature gave us one tongue and two ears so we could

hear twice as much as we speak.”Epictetus

“The less you speak, the more you will hear.”Alexander Solshenitsen

“I like to listen. I have learned a great deal from listening carefully. Most people never listen.”

Ernest Hemingway

“Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger”

James 1:19

• Listening is the most underappreciated social skill

• Focus outward, not inward

• Ask open-ended questions

• Maintain eye contact

• Pay attention

• Focus on content, not delivery

• Repeat words mentally

Actually be interested in the other person

“You can make more friends in two months by becoming really interested in other people than

you can in two years by trying to get other people interested in you. Which is just another way of

saying that the way to make a friend is to be one.”Dale Carnegie

“The greatest compliment that was ever paid me was when someone asked me what I thought, and

attended to my answer.”Henry David Thoreau

• It enhances listening skillls

• Focus on the other person

• Make others feel good through giving adequate attention

• Reach out

• Have a deeper and more honest conversation

Don’t listen too much to criticism

“If evil be said of thee, and if it be true, correct thyself; if it be a lie, laugh at it.”

Epictetus

“When we judge or criticize another person, it says nothing about that person; it merely says

something about our own need to be critical.”Unknown

“The tongue of the wise commends knowledge, but the mouths of fools pour out folly.”

Proverbs 15:2

• Listen to criticism, but do not be preoccupied with it

• The world does not revolve around you

Don’t babble on and on

“The less people speak of their greatness, the more we think of it.”

Sir Francis Bacon

“The more you say, the less people remember.”

• Utilize and improve listening skills

• Think about what you want to say first

• Simplify what you say

• Be less eager to stroke your ego

Treat others as you would like them to treat you

“The people with whom you work reflect your own attitude. If you are suspicious, unfriendly and condescending, you will find these unlovely traits echoed all about you. But if you are on your best behaviour, you

will bring out the best in the persons with whom you are going to spend most of your working hours.”

Beatrice Vincent

“It’s so easy to laugh, it’s so easy to hate. It takes guts to be gentle and kind.”

Morrissey

““So whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets.”

Matthew 7:12

• Remember reciprocity

• Be mindful of your attitude

Keep a positive attitude

“Two men look out the same prison bars; one sees mud and the other stars.”Frederick Langbridge

“Constant kindness can accomplish much. As the sun makes ice melt, kindness causes misunderstanding,

mistrust and hostility to evaporate.”Albert Schweitzer

“These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full.”

John 15:11

• Practice it

• Look at the brighter side

• Replace negative thoughts with something positive

Use silence

“A good word is an easy obligation; but not to speak ill requires only our silence; which costs us nothing.”

John Tillotson

“Be silent, or say something better than silence.”Pythagoras

“It’s good to shut up sometimes.”Marcel Marceau

“A fool gives full vent to his spirit, but a wise man quietly holds it back.”

Proverbs 29:11

• Improves listening skills

• Helps in minimizing unnecessary social tensions

Communicate with more than your words

“They may forget what you said, but they will never forget how you made them feel.”

Carl W. Buechner

“I speak two languages, English and Body.”Mae West

“We often refuse to accept an idea merely because the tone of voice in which it has been

expressed is unsympathetic to us.”Friedrich Nietzsche

• NVL is over 90% of what we communicate

• Broadcasts our true feelings and intentions

• 5 roles of NVL:– Repetition– Contradiction– Substitution– Complementing– Accenting

Thank you for listening!