When I was in my early 20's this was a challenge for me, but I worked at it. Now, I am 40 and it is effortless. There is something to be said for having some w

When I was in my early 20's this was a challenge for me, but I worked at it. Now, I am 40 and it is effortless. There is something to be said for having some well crafted stories, but I think that's a lesser part of it. The bigger thing is being able to LISTEN so you can find common ground and build rapport. Getting into the sales side in my career was the first time I began to realize how important this was. But nothing changed me like working for a political campaign. I did a large amount of door-to-door, street canvasing and phone banking. I had thousands and thousands of conversations. It was hard, but could be really satisfying if you could turn an initially unpleasant interaction into one where you both walked away smiling. I would highly recommend this type of volunteer work to help a cause you're passionate about. It was a great experience for me and it helped me develop so many different social skills.