Improve Your Social Skills Paperback – September 12, 2014

This book by Daniel Wendler could just as well be entitled: The Thinking Person’s Guide to Improving Your Social Skills. I say that because of the methodical, thoughtful and flowing way the author guides us through the complex maze of social interactions in which we find ourselves.I found the conversational process of using questions, which the author calls “invitations,” and the telling of something from our own experience that opens the conversation up for our partner to comment on or question, which the author calls “inspirations,” to be very helpful when breaking down the dynamic of a conversation.Being frequently in situations that require entering into a group conversation, such as at dinner parties or professional meetings, the section on helpful ways to enter into those group conversations, and also on the importance of including others in group conversations that we have already entered into, was very useful.One part of the book speaks to gauging the “energy level” of the person or group that you are entering into a conversation with. This is something I hadn’t thought of before, but is going to become an important part of my own process of entering into conversations and relationships.Finally, the chapters on meeting new friends and how to decide if those friendships are going to be healthy, along with how to maintain and nurture those relationships was the most satisfying to me personally. I have found that as you age, the process of identifying who might be a good friend and then figuring out how to maintain that friendship along with all the other priorities of life can be very difficult. I plan on utilizing the helpful information in those chapters to gain a new friendship and to nurture it once started.Bravo on a great book Daniel!

All in all a very interesting read, it covered a wide range of topics like meeting and making friends, romantic relationships, conversation skills and what to look for in a good and bad relationship. A good general book on how to interact with people and live a healthy and happy life. Not to many details if your looking for specifics in a particular area but a good overall foundation if you're unsure of what being social is all about. The book also provides a couple of nice tips and examples on the things it covers. Its a good starting point, however further reading is required if there is a particular area in your social skills you are really trying to improve though.

This book taught me so much! I learned so much and improved so much of my relationships from the knowledge that the author teaches when I applied it in real life!

I was looking for a book to give to my daughter to help her with her social skills. She is 14 and does not have a diagnosis, but had shared with me that she struggles with certain social skills ( such as being aware that the feelings of others might be different than her own, or how to support a friend who is going through a difficult time). A lot of the books out there about improving your social skills are either too clinical, aimed at younger kids, or are meant for professionals looking to network better. I read this through before giving it to my daughter. I like the author's overall approach and the constant emphasis on sincerity and kindness in relationships. He presents social skills in terms of fairly easy to remember principles, rather than a lot of theory, abstract ideas, or case studies (there are some personal examples though). Although the target audience seems to be young adults, I found that it was very appropriate for my daughter. I was a little nervous about the chapter on relationships, but was relieved that the author's values align fairly well with my own and I felt comfortable with my daughter reading it. My daughter hasn't shared with me her thoughts about it ( but that's par for the course with her) but she was happy about the idea of having a book to refer to. It was actually a revelation to her that social skills are something that she can learn more about and get better at. I work in the special education field, and I will be recommending this book to students and parents.

Not bad. It felt repetitive to most I've just heard in public speaking classes. But hey, still a good red.

makes learning social skills looks quite easier than the monster it initially appeared to be. Best to implement as you read along.

This book has great info, and it's very helpful for those who are lacking with social skills. This book is contains advice and lessons about being able to simply socialize, and is not based too much on advanced concepts; it is fundamental. This book is a good book. However, it would have been a great book if it weren't for the grammar mistakes. The grammar mistakes don't effect someone's ability to learn and understand the information from the book since they are minor and not very repetitive, but I still believe that most people would recommend some revision to really improve what this book has to offer. It's not perfect, but it is incredibly helpful.

Hi, I'm a college kiddo who has a severe social anxiety disorder. If you want a book that will absolutely change your life, I would recommend this one! This book is also incredibly friendly for dyslexic folks, the fonts are great, it's not hard to read, and wrote in a way that I can understand it! I have two friends who already want to borrow my book, I went from having no friends a semester, to talking to 5 people so far in my current one! Can't say we are friendship level yet, but with this book, I can't even believe I was able to talk to so many as I have, I never thought I'd see the day. My social anxiety still holds me back, but this book has helped me indefinitely.