Want a few out-of-the-ordinary ways to meet new friends? The following methods will help you start up conversations with different types of people, which is the first step to making friends. These ideas are a bit more random than ways you would normally meet people in a new city or even bond with your coworkers. Instead, they incorporate a few tips into your everyday life that will help you connect with others.
Wear Conversational Tee Shirts
Encourage conversation by wearing a tee shirt that reflects your hobby or passion. If you love, say, Dr. Who, football, or a specific music band, wearing a related tee shirt will give others who share your passion an automatic conversation starter. I found this worked well when I wore a rare Kung Fu shirt, and had people ask me where I got it.
Make Time for Networking
In the book Networking Is a Contact Sport, Joe Sweeney suggests a method to meet new business clients using a 5/10/15 approach. People looking for friends can adapt this idea for personal use by actively engaging in conversation (which he calls encounters) with five people per day.
When you're out getting coffee, for example, make an effort to talk to the people around you (other customers, the barista behind the counter, etc.). Or, when you run out to get some milk and happen to spot someone you know casually, make an effort to say hello rather than just waving at them or worse, keeping your head down so they don't see you. This mindset will help you meet new people in general, which in turn increases your chances of gaining new friends.
Go Out!
The most basic approach to meeting new people is just getting out of your house. Take any activity that you would do at home (read, do your wash, watch TV, surf the Internet, etc.) and do it somewhere public so you have the potential to meet others. Even if you have your own washer and dryer, pop into the Laundromat on a busy Saturday sometime. You are bound to meet others and who knows if some of those people might wind up as friends.
The same goes with reading or surfing the Internet. Take your book or laptop to a bookstore or coffee shop. Just being out gives you an advantage when it comes to meeting friends. After all, you can't meet them by staying home.
Want more ideas? Sign up for my free ecourse, 101 Ways to Have More Friends.
How did you meet a new friend? Tell us.
