This article covers two techniques I learned to overcome shyness. It talks about exposing your insecurities, and showing your good intentions.

These techniques are easy to use as they make you express your gratitude and generosity. And most often, these emotions are not too hard to verbalize.

All the points discussed in this article are detailed and illustrated with examples in this book.

1. Expose Yourself

Your shyness is your strength. It shows other people you have weaknesses, and you are making efforts to overcome them and socialize.

The people you hang out with will feel more comfortable knowing you are not perfect, because neither are they. And this is what will make your relationships robust and lasting.

The more you expose yourself and tell about your insecurities, the more you let the door open for others to join you.

Do not use shyness as a hook but as a fragrance

You are not obliged to talk about your shyness, but you should use it to your advantage. If you find yourself talking a lot and leading the conversation, hinder it and tell how good it feels to chat and open yourself in spite of your introversion.

You must refrain from making shyness a weakness to get people to talk to you. On the contrary, you have to use your shyness as a way to tell your interlocutor "Please notice I am feeling good with you and this is what drives me to talk that much, even though I usually don’t."

On the one hand, making your shyness an argument to talk with someone is the worst thing you can do. It makes the conversation forced, artificial, and unpleasant. It makes your interlocutor feel worried about not helping you enough and it unconsciously puts pressure on them. Otherwise they would be considered as rude and unhelpful.

On the other hand, making your shyness a detail in the conversation makes it even more pleasant. It is just like making efforts to pet a dog you are afraid of. It demonstrates you are getting over a fear which is deep inside you to make a connection and build a relationship.

When you are in the middle of a conversation and find yourself happy and loquacious, take the time to thank your interlocutor and to show enthusiasm, politeness, and gratitude. Do not use your shyness as an introducer but as a compliment. "I do not talk frequently as I am shy, but you make me open myself." It makes other people smile and feel happy as you are complimenting them and showing genuine honesty.

2. Show Good Intentions

I believe good intentions and genuine kindness enable people to socialize and build rock-solid relationships. I have tested my philosophy more than once, and I have always been astounded by people’s reactions.

Back when I was using mobile apps to socialize and meet people in my city, I always introduced myself in the simplest way.

"Hi. I hope you’re having a nice day. My name is David and I would be glad to meet you in person, grab a coffee or anything else so we can get to know each other better," with some emojis here and there.

Believe it or not, it had an eighty-percent success rate.

Most often, my interlocutors would only ask me questions to ensure I really was kind-hearted as they had never met me beforehand.

My philosophy and these experiments taught me two important lessons.

First , if you manage to demonstrate that you have good intentions and nothing else, people will spend time with you and open themselves.

Second , it is easier done than said. People fear strangers because they have no idea what these strangers plan to do with them. If you tell straight away that you want to connect and share nice moments, people instantly lower their guard.

There are only two possible outcomes of introducing yourself and telling about your good intentions. Your interlocutor will either be suspicious, or welcome you with open arms.

In the first case , it is nothing to worry about. Since childhood, most of us are taught not to approach strangers, and we learn that what seems too good to be true probably is.

In the second case, you have just made a new friend.

Back to the first case, you will be asked questions to prove your sincerity, and it is no big deal. Whenever you are to meet someone new, introduce yourself and immediately talk about your pure intentions. Be honest and do not lie. Honesty is always rewarded, and more often than not, your interlocutors are as kind-hearted as you. We all want peace and authentic relationships based on gentleness, respect, generosity, and politeness.

Do not be afraid of rejection. If you have good intentions, there is no risk of rejection.

Bottom Line

Being shy has this advantage that it makes every word you say much more powerful and meaningful. If you were a very talkative individual, words would be abundant and somehow, less precious.

Scarcity drives value, and this is your advantage.

Let everyone know you are happy to have a talk with them and you would definitely share one more moment with them later on.