Social Skills Training - Top 5 Social Skills
Social Skills Training - Social skills are more of an "on-the-job" learning experience than topics like math or science. Learning how to manage conflict, make friends, and navigate groups as a child can be a useful skill. But not everyone acquires these skills in the same way. We sometimes never master them, and can only refine them over the course of a lifetime. This article explains what social skill training is and offers several strategies and training options for developing social skills.
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Social Skills Training - What are social skills
Social skills are the behaviours we use to communicate effectively with other people, verbally or nonverbally. They are also called "interpersonal skills" or "soft skills." A person's social skills are shaped by their culture, beliefs, and attitudes. These skills continuously change and grow throughout life. Strong social skills can help you build and maintain successful relationships, personally and professionally.
Some examples of social skills:
Smiling when greeting people.
Keeping eye contact during a conversation.
Shaking hands when meeting someone.
Tones of voice and volume.
Appropriate emotional reactions (e.g. crying when something sad occurs, laughing when someone says something funny).
See also: Soft skills for students
Social Skills Training - Why are social skills important?
Social skills are essential because they enable you to communicate more effectively and efficiently, which, in turn, helps you to build, maintain and grow relationships with family, friends, colleagues, clients, and even new contacts. Having strong social skills increases your chances to communicate your needs and wants effectively, develop more relationships, easily handle and navigate tricky social situations and feel happier.
See also: How to improve interpersonal skills
Social Skills Training - What is social skills training?
Social skills training is a therapeutic approach, a form of behaviour therapy used by teachers, therapists, and trainers to help individuals who have difficulties relating to other people. The training includes interventions and instructional methods that help individuals improve and comprehend social behaviour. The goal of social skills training is to help individuals understand the nonverbal and verbal behaviours involved in typical social interactions.
Many people have never been taught interpersonal skills such as "small talk" in social settings, nor have they been taught the importance of eye contact when conversing. Furthermore, people don't know how to read the many subtle cues that emerge during social interactions, such as when someone wants to change the topic of conversation or shift to a different activity. Training in social skills enables trainees to learn to interpret these and other social signals, so that they may act appropriately in various situations in the company of other people. It is assumed that by improving social skills or changing selected behaviours, people can raise their self-esteem and increase their chances of gaining favourable attention.
The trainee practices selected behaviours in individual or group therapy sessions to change their social behaviour patterns. Training in social skills also aims to improve an individual’s ability to function socially in everyday situations. Training in social skills helps master specific skills -- for example, improving one's telephone manners, using eye contact when speaking with others, or maintaining a certain amount of personal space with people that interfere with their jobs or daily lives.
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Social Skills Training - Social skills training for adults
Social awkwardness is not just a problem for kids; adults can also struggle with social skills, leading to anxiety and serious phobias. Adults who struggle with social skills tend to avoid social situations and can have difficulty developing lasting relationships. Social skills training could ensure more optimal functioning for clients with anxiety, public speaking fear, and similar issues. You can also ask yourself some questions to determine if social skills therapy is suitable for you. You may need to answer the following questions:
What areas of my life do I struggle with?
Do I struggle with specific social situations or skills?
Is it difficult for me to maintain relationships with friends, family, and coworkers?
Do I avoid certain social situations out of fear?
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Social Skills Training - Social skills training techniques
Social skills training usually begins with an assessment of the specific skill deficits. Trainers and therapists may ask their clients which social situations they find most challenging or which skills they feel could be improved. The purpose of this process is to determine which target groups are the most suitable for social skills training in the given situation. A set of techniques for improving social skills is introduced once specific target areas have been identified. Changes are usually made in one area at a time to avoid feeling overwhelmed.
See also: Why is time management important
The goal of social skills training is to break complex social behaviours down into smaller pieces. Following that, these smaller parts are arranged in order of difficulty, and gradually introduced to the trainee. An individual working with a trainee who is learning to be more comfortable at parties, for example, might make a list of specific behaviours that belong to the complex behaviour of "acting appropriately at parties," such as introducing himself or herself to others, conversing with several guests rather than just one, keeping the conversation pleasant and interesting, thanking the host or hostess before leaving, and so on. Thus, the trainee would work on a specific behaviour at a time instead of trying to acquire them all at once.
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Social skills training techniques include instruction, modelling, role-playing, shaping, feedback, and reinforcing positive interactions.
Instruction: In instruction social skills are taught and learned through the modelling of appropriate behaviours. Instruction can, for example, be used to communicate the differences between assertive, passive, and aggressive communication styles.
Monitoring: A technique used to ask clients to maintain eye contact during a conversation.
Positive/Corrective feedback: A technique used to enhance social skills and reward improvements during practice.
Behavioural Rehearsal/ Role Play - Role play involves practising new skills during therapy in a simulated situation. In role-playing exercises, group members can give feedback to one another about how they performed in simulated situations. For example - participants may role-play a situation in which a customer attempts to return a defective product to a store. The other participants can then comment on the assertiveness or the responses of the "customer."
Weekly homework assignments: Allow practice outside of therapy of the newly learned social skills.
See also: Body language in communication
It is important for anyone hoping to establish professional and personal connections to develop social skills. The development of social skills helps in better negotiating social situations. People who lack proper interpersonal skills or who are unable to read subtle social cues typically receive social skills training.
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Author - The author of this article is Yashodhra Arora, who is a Counselling Psychologist, with extensive experience in Career Counselling for high school students.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
The most important types of Social skills are Empathy, Verbal and Written Communication, Non-Verbal Communication, Cooperation and Listening.
Social skills are the behaviours we use to communicate with other people which can be verbal or nonverbal. They are also called Interpersonal or soft skills.
You can better connect with others and be socially active by following a few tips like: Initiate a conversation, be a good listener, gives compliments freely, sign up for different classes and recognize when you might need help.
Adults socialize by joining a meet-up group, joining a sports league, befriending people in your gym, neighbours or colleagues at work.
You can strengthen your social skills by listening to people carefully, being interested in people’s stories, remembering people’s names, picking up cues when to end or change a conversation, etc.