Meeting new people can be a lot of fun. It can be a chance to have an interesting conversation, or even make a new friend. Sometimes, meeting someone new can be a worrying experience. However, if these feelings are hindering your ability to meet new people or live your life in a positive way, you might want to check out the social anxiety page.
How to meet new people. You can meet new people by agreeing to go out with friends when they invite you to hang out, being involved inactivities, volunteering, or by joining a club or sports team.
Tips for meeting someone for the first time:
- Deal with your nerves. Building your self-esteem and confidence can help reduce shyness in some situations. It may also be helpful to learn to challenge your negative self-talk. (See the challenging negative self-talk page for more on this.)
- Smile, keep eye contact and be friendly. You’re more likely to be friendly to someone who smiles at you, so try smiling at others and see what happens.
- Prepare conversation topics. It helps to pick a topic that you’ll feel confident talking about and will likely be of interest to others.
- Be yourself. When you come across as relaxed and confident, it’s likely that the person you’re meeting will also feel relaxed and comfortable chatting with you.
Meeting people online. It’s important to remember that the Internet can be dangerous for teens and young adults. You never know when someone could be lying to you about their identity or intentions. Keep in mind these few simple tips to stay safe online:
- On social networking sites such as Instagram and Facebook, keep your profile private and only friend people you know.
- Never give out personal details like your home address, phone number, school or workplace to anybody you’ve met online. Don’t post these details on a public space where it could be seen by people you don’t know.
- If you are being bullied online by people you meet in a chat room or on a website, tell someone you trust about it. For more information check out our Cyber bullying and Safe online chat fact sheets.
Acknowledgement: This fact sheet was originally developed by youth and staff at ReachOut.com, a website that helps teens get through tough times.
