Just a couple general things I think could be helpful here: 1) In conversation, you should try to listen more than you speak. Remember, everyone loves to talk

Just a couple general things I think could be helpful here: 1) In conversation, you should try to listen more than you speak. Remember, everyone loves to talk about something they're interested in, and have other people actually listen. (this is probably the crux of the original article - dorks love talking about their pet topics, as does everyone, but we think our topics are better and therefore its OK to hog a conversation). From Reddit, I got this gem. When you slip into boring "what do you do for a living?" / "what are you studying in school?" Q/A time, break out of it with "do you like it?" For example: You: So what are you studying in school? Stranger: Chemistry You: Do you like it? Stranger: Well, I do, but blah blah blah... Works shockingly well. 2) Sad moments,bad things have happened - this is a really hard one. I've taken to complete honesty - "that sucks man. I hate that happened to you." Then I shut up, hug them if appropriate, and let them talk more about it if they want to. In these moments, people want to be heard, but they don't want a solution. 3) Situations where you know you're right, and the other person would be interested in knowing, but you don't want to be a dick - Start with, "I don't know much about this, but I did read the Wikipedia page the other day...(smile)" Everyone accepts Wikipedia as correct, and everyone uses it. So it turns the frame from "I'm smarter than you" to "I happened to Google it first". 4) When to say "hi"when people approach Tough one. What I do is smile all the time and try to make eye contact from 10-15 feet out (I generally try to look up though, so this doesn't seem jarring). Then I say "Hi", continue the big smile and eye contact as we pass. Seems to work well for me, especially if I remember that no one is good at this situation, and they aren't judging me. 5) Making friends - just say "let's hang out." For me, "let's grab a beer" is easy, but I don't see how that wouldn't work for anything else. Sports are fun, you could try inviting a coworker to a baseball game or something. No need to overthink this one. People are nice, and they like making friends. 6) Accepting compliments - super hard. What works for me is big smile, look down a bit like I'm slightly embarrassed, and say "Wow, you made my day." 7) In general, smile all the time, even if it feels forced. You'll find that your own mood will be so much better, and a good smile can make another person's day better. If you do one thing, just make a point to smile, and you'll see a night and day difference. Anecdotally, I often have long hair and a beard, so if I don't smile, people think I'm aggressive, standoffish, antisocial, mad, whatever (100% untrue). If I make a point to smile, people see me as accepting, non-judgemental, and friendly - which is what I hope to be. Best of luck! If you're in Raleigh, I'm always up to hang out with new people.