Dealing with social akwardness.

[Chaicho]

I had always had trouble socializing and now that I have a job i figure that I should probably work on making my social akwardness fade away especially since my job involves a lot of customer service.

 

Did any of you experience something similar and how did you work on it. 

[Princess Luna]

How old are you? is this your first job? Give a little more of your background would certainly help out in order to those who have been through it as well can share their experiences ^^

[XenosTech]

5 minutes ago, Chaicho said:

I had always had trouble socializing and now that I have a job i figure that I should probably work on making my social akwardness fade away especially since my job involves a lot of customer service.

 

Did any of you experience something similar and how did you work on it. 

I'm a social retard myself too and I used to work as a technical support engineer, at first it's really awkward since you force yourself to talk to the clients and you dabble a bit while you're talk to them, but after a while when you get used to talking to the clients often it starts to feel somewhat natural. Just have to give it some time and not force into it too much.

[Chaicho]

3 minutes ago, Princess Cadence said:

How old are you? is this your first job? Give a little more of your background would certainly help out in order to those who have been through it as well can share their experiences ^^

Im 19, yes its my first job and I really never acquired the ability to hang around new people without staying quit for a significant amount of time and making the experience akward.

[Chaicho]

3 minutes ago, XenosTech said:

I'm a social retard myself too and I used to work as a technical support engineer, at first it's really awkward since you force yourself to talk to the clients and you dabble a bit while you're talk to them, but after a while when you get used to talking to the clients often it starts to feel somewhat natural. Just have to give it some time and not force into it too much.

Well, customer service doesn't really uncomfort me since it's pretty straightforward and I just ask them how can I help them and then I do so, but let's say they start making small talk or something similar thats when I start to question what my next choice of words are gonna be. Like i can't just nod my head and say "yeah man" forever. I feel like I need to change that part.

[XenosTech]

6 minutes ago, Chaicho said:

Well, customer service doesn't really uncomfort me since it's pretty straightforward and I just ask them how can I help them and then I do so, but let's say they start making small talk or something similar thats when I start to question what my next choice of words are gonna be. Like i can't just nod my head and say "yeah man" forever. I feel like I need to change that part.

I did that at first but after a while I got used to some of the clients and small talk just seemed like a normal convo with one of my friends

[Chaicho]

2 minutes ago, XenosTech said:

I did that at first but after a while I got used to some of the clients and small talk just seemed like a normal convo with one of my friends

I see. So basically I just need yo practice? You got any tips on faster progress?

[XenosTech]

Just now, Chaicho said:

I see. So basically I just need yo practice? You got any tips on faster progress?

Yeah it's basically that, and nope I don't have tips for that. You'll have to wing that part and figure out what works best for you. Basically I used to joke with one of the clients that they broke the software and they used to laugh about it with me but some people may take offense to that.

[Thunderpup]

Depending on your level of aloofness this may be a life long project. 

 

My social skills are sub par, but my job requires me to at least be somewhat pleasant.  Some say I've improved but honestly i just fake it better.  Unfortunately i am the only male where i work and anytime im even slightly direct with someone it gets misconstrued.  

 

My advice to you is to take a public speaking class.   

[Mug]

How so? I've got a mate who's ridiculous for this, we all go to the pub as a group and he literally says a total of like 5 sentences. Is it that bad?

[Misanthrope]

Dealt with it before and the customers became a non-issue before I even left the training area. It's the office politics that took me years to master under social anxiety. I still have to second guess myself when responding to criticism and such and prefer to a lot of the times defer to my boss to handle shit out for me when it comes to dealing with other departments since my boss or team leader are usually a lot better at answering firmly but without becoming disrespectful or such.

 

If I have to reply myself I usually try to at least make sure I have a cool head so if people pay attention an incredibly obvious tell is when I take hours to respond and do so in an overly conciliatory matter that subtly shifts responsibility while proposing a resolution.

[RGProductions]

A few years ago my social skills weren't great. Now I have trouble not talking to everyone I meet lol. With practice it might come more naturally.