Q&A for How to Meet New People

In order to meet people, you've got to get out there. Do things you enjoy; find groups that appeal to your interest on sites like Meetup.com, find local volunteer opportunities for a cause that has personal meaning to you, take community education classes. Go to concerts, do outdoor activities you like, and basically be places where others will be doing things that you enjoy doing.

Go talk to them! Chances are they've noticed you and just don't know how to approach you either.

It's only a date and nothing will come out of it if you don't want anything to. Just try and have fun and enjoy a nice time meeting someone new. Find common interests and be yourself.

Start by just saying hi to some people you want to get to know or even a smile on the way into class. Talk about the work with them and find some interests you both have in common. Remember, if this is a new class, other people will be in the same situation you are in so it's most likely they want to make new friends too.

If nobody comes to you, why not go to them! It may feel strange but just start by saying, "Hi, how are you?" and see what happens. If they don't respond, try again with someone else.

Go up to him and start a conversation! Don't speak over him, listen to what he has to say, and speak meaningfully and truthfully. Look for common interests. If he doesn't want to talk to you, don't continue to pester him. There are plenty of people who would like to be your friend.

Ask your friend for an introduction and/or ask if she'd be okay with all three of you hanging out together sometime. Try to find out what this other girl's interests are and what you have in common, and talk to her about these things.

Starting a conversation can be difficult. Make sure to make eye contact with the person and smile so they feel comfortable. Ask them simple things like what they do for fun or what sports they play, or make a comment about the weather. The conversation should come naturally after you start off with the topic sentence.

Try thinking of it this way. Even if your conversation turns to previous relationships, you can get 2 things out of this: 1. You can find out a lot about what a person's attitude and/or personality is really like based on how they acted/reacted in a hard time. 2. Any conversation is still a conversation! Try thinking of this as common ground, and let the conversation naturally flow into other subjects. If this one relationship turns out to be just a friendship, that's okay. There are plenty of fish in the sea.

You can just start slowly distancing yourself from them. Stop responding to their texts or social media messages as frequently, make excuses when they ask you to hang out, etc. They will eventually start making other friends. If you want to be more direct, just say something like, "I'm sorry, I don't think this friendship is working out, and I need some space." There's really no way to end a friendship without hurting someone's feelings, but as long as you're polite and respectful, everything should be fine.