Put Yourself Out there

Entering into the world outside of your bubble can be as simple as waving hello. It can be as hard as giving a polite smile back to an onlooker. You don’t have to say anything. You don’t have to know who you’re talking to. The point of it is just the effort of making yourself known to the other person; whether it’s for a minute, or a week, or even years. There are plenty of ways to make an impression without even talking to someone. It could be your clothes, your hair, your eye color, your facial expressions, how you talk, the tone of your voice, etc. First impressions are essential to the audience.

Make the First Move
The difference between letting yourself be known and acting on your known presence is exactly that. If you’re walking next to someone in a hallway, you don’t have to talk to them, they know you’re next to them in the idea that they won’t run into you. Compared to walking next to someone in the hallway and talking to them about a common interest. Actually put yourself into action; get up and physically say hello, ask about their day. Eventually, throughout your conversation you can find a way to stay in touch, whether it’s via cell phone, social media, writing letters, E-mails, etc.
 
Side note: Emotions
It’s easy to get intimidated by one’s emotional appearance. If the subject is crying or seems to be troubled, or if they seem angry or uncomfortable, use caution before striding over there in all your glory. Think about what you’re going to say, try and maneuver around the subject that is bothering them but still hint towards caring about said subject. Offer assistance but do not pry; we don’t want to provoke a bad reaction from being pushy.

Carrying on the Conversation
Getting started is the fairly easy part, to continue with topics of interest can be hard. Some people can fill up the blank space with little effort at all. To have a bit of an awkward silence in between subjects is fairly normal. But it’s important not to let it last too long or have too many. To your new friend it may seem unorganized and even a possible lack in interest.

Closing
Regardless of if you do end up keeping in contact with your new friend, you tried! Although I’m not very got at social interaction either, I hope you have better luck than I do. This document was written not from personal experience (obviously), but from observation. Humans are strange creatures but they’re not all that bad. So give it a try; go talk to someone!