Our need for social relationships is almost as deep as our need for food and shelter. Like other biological beings, humans develop our own social networks consisting of different relationships that help us meet our various social needs. There's a reason why we sometimes trust our friends with our secrets more than our parents, even though parents usually provide us with the most dependable relationship. This is why it is important to develop strong social skills because not all relationships are inherited. In fact, most of our relationships in our personal and professional lives have no genetic basis. We often need help and guidance from others and strong social network could turn out to be our most valuable asset. But some people are socially awkward which may be due to personality traits or life experiences. Since lack of social skills could adversely impact their personal and professional lives, they would greatly benefit from tackling their social awkwardness. Fortunately, there are tactics and strategies that social awkward individuals can adopt to improve their social skills.
One of the strategies to overcome social anxiety may be to force one self into social situations (Tyrrell). Being in a social situation will create more opportunities for social interaction even if one may feel uncomfortable at first but over time, one may acquire skills and experiences. But if someone always avoids social situations, there is no opportunity for any progress to be made. In other words, one has to produce the courage to tackle the problem whether one likes it or not. Another tactic that may be helpful is to block thoughts of what others may think of you (Tyrrell). Thinking too much about others' opinions only leads to distraction as well as discourage social awkward people from making any efforts. .
Socially awkward people can also make tremendous progress by taking on a challenge they may deem extremely difficult because successfully completing the challenge will significantly boost their confidence and morale.