An abundance of people face social anxiety (15 million Americans) and have some fear of conducting social conversation. I believe there are three challenges one needs to overcome in order for him/her to feel comfortable and confident communicating to anyone: Shyness, holding conversations, keeping and growing friendships. If one can be poised, learn to hold conversations, and grow existing friendships, I feel they are will be able to meet and connect with anyone; in turn growing their network. Shyness Being shy can be natural, everyone is not born with the most confidence and everyone is not born to be outgoing. However, I see shyness as something that can be overcome with time and practice. Not being confident in your thoughts, the way you talk, or even the way you look leads to being reserved. Thinking patterns are what initiate shyness; an example of this is worrying about how you come across to others or what they’ll think of you. These kind of ideas in your head cause changes in your behavior. You will be hesitant and in general less talkative in certain social situations. Due to this anxiety in you, there will be physical symptoms that show the other person that you are nervous. With all that being said, your audience will know you are tense and may then have a judgment of you. I would suggest to take all panicking out of your system before you enter a new workplace or environment. If you put yourself in awkward situations and make yourself speak to people you don’t know, you will learn to be confident in what you say and do. Holding Conversations Initiating communication is a problem for some people on its own, but holding a conversation for more that the first few minutes is an even more challenging task. The beginning of a discussion is usually very streamline and you can easily plan for it. To calm your nerves and get ready for any conversation, I have a few pointers that should help. If you accept that any conversatio