Nervous when you meet someone new? (Part I)

When you meet someone for the first time there are numerous normal emotions that you could be feeling. For instance, you could be feeling excited, nervous, anxious, curious, paranoid, scared, or, if you’re lucky, you could just be relaxed. Everyone takes a different approach when they meet someone new, but many people have mixed emotions, the one emotion that I find is normally consistent though, is nervousness. You should note, that this is very common and completely normal reaction.

I have decided to divide the tips I have into two different posts; the first part are general tips when you are meeting someone online for the first time (this is this post), and the second part is how you can use different features and actions in your video chat experience to keep the conversation interesting.

10 Tips to Help You Not Be Nervous

1. Be confident
If you come off to the other person as someone who is not confident, then you are not doing a very good job of selling yourself and making them want to keep in touch with you. Accept the fact that there will be people in life you will meet that may not take to you and that’s OK, it says nothing about who you are as a person.

2. Be your best self
If you are fake then most likely the other person will be able to tell (unless your chosen profession is acting). You can only truly be comfortable if you are yourself. If you really want an honest chance of making this person your friend (or more) then be your best self you can be and show them who you really are.

3. Be in a familiar environment
You’re on a webcam. right? So you have the advantage of being in an environment that is most comfortable for you, one that makes you the most relaxed. Choose your living room, bedroom or porch, somewhere that you are calm in and you are familiar in. Also, wear comfortable clothes that will make you feel at ease.

4. Don’t judge on first impressions
If you begin by knowing that this isn’t your only chance to make an impression, and it is in fact the first of many more to come, it will help you with your nervousness. Don’t judge other people’s first impressions and don’t expect them to judge you. People look and act differently every day and on different hours of the day.

5. Breathe
This is the most important one (obviously), so don’t forget to breath!

6. Smile
Even if you’re not in the mood to smile, smiling will help you and your chat partner feel more relaxed and also better looking and more confident. It’s a win-win situation and I promise you you won’t regret it. Try not to smile too much, though, as this can make you look a little creepy. Balance yourself.

7. Be Friendly
Sometimes when people are nervous they are quirky, and uncomfortable and often make the other person feel uncomfortable as a result. If you are friendly and seem sociable, not only will your nerves abate, but it will help you with the impression that you are giving to your chat partner.

8. Keep the conversation going
When you’re nervous (and even when you’re not) an awkward silence is possibly one of the worst things that can happen in a conversation. Try to listen to cues from the other person about what they want to chat about and also drop cues yourself and make sure they understand them. If nothing else works, just tell a really funny joke you’ve memorized once, it couldn’t really hurt.

9. Ask questions and seem interested
No matter how nervous you are, asking questions will keep you calm, because it will keep the conversation going and will make your chat partner feel as though you are interested in who they are, and what they have to say. Also be sure to listen to what your chat partner is saying, you don’t want to just fire questions away.

10. Remember facts
You probably already know some information about your chat partner, even if it is only the smallest detail, it is something you can work with. When you remember facts about the other person it will help you feel less nervous, as at some level you already know a bit about them, and you already have facts or talking points to touch on in case you get lost in the conversation. Use their name once in a while, this will also make you feel closer to one another.

They say that if you find yourself actually having fun and enjoying yourself then you might even forget the nervousness you were once feeling. So have fun with your video chat, enjoy yourself, play around and you won’t even remember that you were nervous in the beginning.

Hope this helps!