I knew from the start of September that I wanted to write this blog post as soon as possible, because now I think I have tried and tested these tips, as you may know I started college knowing no one so I had to make new friends and these are the tips I have learnt!
Confidence and positivity -
It was scary going into college not knowing anyone, it did feel lonely to start off with but you have to be confident and positive that your going to meet new people. You have to go in their with your head held high, you also need to go up to people and say hi because not everyone is going to go up to you to start a conversation.
Body language -
As I mentioned above about having your head held high, this also related to your body language, you may be shy or scared but you can't let your body reflect that because your not going to look too approachable. You need to have a good posture, head high, looking up and using your hands instead of having them by your side. You want to look natural but you also need to look people in the eye this makes you seem much more confident as well. Lastly your speech sort of go into this as well, you want to speak loud and clear without mumbling.
Engage with people -
This is where you just need to speak to as many people as you can, just say hello, you alright or something to get the conversation started. You also need to remember to ask open questions, as well as talking about things your interest in, finding common interests with someone is the best way to make friends. Just talk to people even if it's a random question to break the ice such as can you open the window for me please or something just to talk to someone. Also compliments are a lovely way to talk to people but you want to not give one to every person you speak to, such as I really like your shoes or something!
Don't exclude yourself -
As soon as you walk into a room don't automatically sit by yourself sit in a central area or just sit next to some people where their is a free space, and just start a conversation such as have you ever studied ... before, they you can start interacting about other things. If your sitting on your own in the corner people are going to think your unapproachable.
Include other people -
You may not be on your own going up to a new school, you may have gone up knowing a few friends but not everyone has. Just bare in mind to include other people in conversations, but if you see someone on their own sit with them, or ask if they want to hang round with you at lunch or something to make people feel included.
I hope this has helped, and that you have made some friends from this!
