If you want to quickly cultivate your social skills, it's not enough to "just to talk to people" as you go about your life day-to-day. If small talk with strang

If you want to quickly cultivate your social skills, it's not enough to "just to talk to people" as you go about your life day-to-day. If small talk with strangers makes you anxious, it will be far too easy to avoid it forever. Instead, I'd recommend that you find a job that forces you to socialize with strangers. Get a job waiting tables, giving campus tours, or something like that. It's not enough to have to talk to strangers (as a cashier might), the ideal job is one which will provide you with a steady stream of captive strangers with whom you're forced to interact for an extended period. Also, you'll find that college is full of very social people. Connect with them and ask them for advice. How, you wonder? Just ask them. From the perspective of an introvert, the idea of flat-out asking someone "Can I buy you a cup of coffee and pick your brain about your amazing social skills?" might seem crazy or even rude (because if a stranger asked you to grab a coffee, it'd stress you out). But super social people are different--they're energized by socializing and enjoy making new friends. I think you'll find that most would not only be willing but friggin' thrilled to chat with you. As for making friends, the most important thing is to find topics of common interest. Like you mentioned, small talk is hard. It's hard because it's forced (you don't really care about the weather, or if the other guy has weekend plans, do you?) But talking about stuff you're interested in is easy. So do that instead! Talk about your hobbies. Talk about things that you're reading and studying. Things that you're enthusiastic about. Enthusiasm is a people-magnet. Eventually you'll find someone who's interested in the same things and the conversation will take care of itself. To this end, join clubs/groups that are devoted to topics that interest you. Another thing--you've got to be willing to put yourself out there. Back when I was a freshman in college, I went on a road trip to a football game with some strangers. Me and one of the other guys hit it off and had a lot of fun together. Once we got back to campus, we all unloaded our bags from the car and were heading our separate ways. I was just going to say 'goodbye' and walk away, because I was too afraid of embarrassing myself to ask this guy for his phone number. Luckily he asked for mine, because we've been friends for almost two decades and he remains one of my favorite people in the world. Ask people if they want to hang out. Ask people for their phone numbers. Put yourself out there. The worst case scenario is a brief moment of awkwardness. The best is a lifetime of friendship.