be more outgoing and confident

Many times I get the the impression that I am not as interesting as I would like to be. Midway during a conversation I feel the awkwardness coming along and start to subconsciously tell myself that I am going to once again look like a fool by not having anything left to say. Because of this I usually avoid making contact with people so that I will not have to go through this embarrassment. My goal is to learn to accept myself as a person and not to prolong conversations that seem to be heading off in the wrong direction. Any advice?

I’m going to start slow and today I’m going to smile at 5 different strangers.

I have problems talking to people on a social level. I’m a national manager and I have no problems giving speeches or talking about my job, but when it comes to one-on-one conversation I freeze. I have no confidence in my ability to be interesting to another person, so in social situations I completely clam up and tend not to talk, which makes people think I’m a snob and “up” myself, which is SO not the case…

i want to be more social im 17 ive already missed out on soooo much…but i know i can do this i just need to talk more and i think when i go out more and start having a ””life’’ i’ll be happy…id like to have a lot of friends and feel loved and go out
...and im going to start rite now !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!11

I met a guy in the gym a while back, we got chatting and he helped show me some weight routines. We ended up chatting about our lines of work and he seemed like a really nice guy (told him about my partner, he told me about his, so everything was clear on that front).

We met up and went out to lunch a little while later. During that meeting he seemed completely different – full of himself, somewhat rude, talked about himself all the time, insecure and ignorant in some ways. Plus somewhat intrusive. We parted ways but I really wasn’t sure if I wanted to see him again.

Anyway, since then he has sent a few texts and emails and called me back but I haven’t responded. He also offered to help get me a contact on the job front but I never followed it up. My silence was partly because I have been SO busy over the past couple of months and really haven’t had any spare time to make new friends. But also because I was really disappointed by our meeting and don’t know if I want to hang out with him again.

The job contact might be potentially useful but I’m pretty sure this guy is going to grate on me again. Now he has sent me a text asking if he’s done something to upset me. How should I reply? Should I give it another shot or not?

A part of me also feels a little let down. This was the first time since moving here that I really went out on a limb and tried to get to know someone new. Ok, it was only one lunch, but he seemed like a potential friend. Now I just feel a bit jaded and as if friendship is not really something I should make a priority right now.

I appear more outgoing and confident on the outside than I feel on the inside. I’m often surprised by people’s impressions of me, because they can be quite different from how I feel inside. Maybe I’m not that shy and retiring after all. I need my inner and outer perceptions to be more aligned. Maybe a straw poll of people who know me would tell me whether I’m outgoing or not…

i had this entry in the goal of talk more & be more spontaneus buy i realize it was the same as this goal so i deleted the other.

for me talk more is an old goal in my life. mi childhood make me like that, shy and quiet, being an only child. i had improved a lot through the years. well, when i began college, almost 5 years ago i passed through a lot of situations, situations i dont want to remember, because of it. thats what make me change some. but sometimes people still think im shy because i dont talk a lot, because of that i want to just talk and talk even more like when im drunk hehe. i dont know what its i just dont have the need, and sometimes i just think a lot to say something…

what im studying need me to be like that, i need it to be more social, to have more friends, to just believe in my self or something…

Good place to at least look confident – even when you’re not is: http://www.wikihow.com/Look-Approachable

when i meet new people, i’m very very quiet. but all my friends tell me that they’re sure people would like me if they knew the real me.
and then when i know i’m going to be meeting people i get all nervous and then dont talk cause i’m afraid my friends were lying and that no one is going to like me and they’re going to think i’m a freak.