Ramit Sethi was a 127-pound awkward kid who learned social skills by watching talk show hosts. He argues social skills are learnable like violin or athletics, not something you're born with, and shows how to practice them to change how people react to you.
Years and years ago, I was this awkward 127 pound guy who would walk into meetings and say weird things where people would stop and look at me like, who's this guy and how did he get in this meeting? The one difference was with socially awkward people, they usually have two problems. One, they're socially awkward. Two, they don't know they're socially awkward. Well, I was definitely awkward. But I started to pick up the signs that there were things I was doing that weren't resonating. They weren't having the right reaction that I wanted. So I started trying to figure out how this stuff worked. I would watch really socially skilled people. For example, I would just turn on the Tonight show and I would watch those celebrities go on and get interviewed, knowing full well that that interview was scripted, but still watching the little things they did, the body language, the way they smiled, the answers they gave. And I started to try these things and I started to see what worked and what didn't. Now, isn't it interesting that when we first think about practicing our social skills, the first reaction we have is to think, that's really weird. But isn't it weird to think that we should just naturally be born with these social skills? Think of all the other people who practice their skills to get to be good or even world class. A violinist doesn't just wake up, get born, and is a virtuoso at the violin. A professional athlete doesn't just wake up one day and score a bunch of points. And similarly, when it comes to social skills, it's not just about being born a natural. It is a skill that you can improve. And I'll show you exactly how to do that in this program. Remember, it's not superficial to focus on your social skills. It's not just something that people were born with. Social skills, like any other skill, are something you can improve. Yes, we all start at different levels, but you can improve them. And when you do, you will see the difference in people's reactions from the first minute you meet them.
