How do I get over my fear of introducing myself?

Page 1 of 1 [ 3 posts ] 

Balbituate
Sea Gull
Sea Gull

Joined: 13 Nov 2017
Age: 34
Gender: Female
Posts: 207
Location: New Zealand

22 Nov 2017, 7:26 pm

I hate introducing myself. I often freeze up when people at cafes or restaurants ask my name. I do have anxiety about socializing in general, but this is the worst for me.



SplendidSnail
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 2 Jul 2017
Age: 44
Gender: Male
Posts: 887
Location: Canada

22 Nov 2017, 8:24 pm

For me, introducing myself is the easy(er) part because that's basically playing back a memorised script. It's what comes after the introductions that's hard.

I think that's probably the best solution I can come up with. Plan how you're going to introduce yourself ahead of time. Practice it. Haven't got any better ideas.


_________________
Level 1 Autism Spectrum Disorder / Asperger's Syndrome.


elbowgrease
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 1 Aug 2017
Age: 38
Gender: Male
Posts: 1,509
Location: Arcata,CA

22 Nov 2017, 8:34 pm

The only thing I could really say is, practice. Out loud, if possible. With variations.
Like: "hi, my name is...", "My name's... What's yours", "I'm... You?"
If you can get comfortable talking to yourself, or rehearsing to yourself, it may make it easier.
I don't have to practice introducing myself for general circumstances anymore, but if I'm trying to talk with a woman I have a crush on I do a lot of it. And I do quite a bit of scripting, sometimes, and will often rehearse parts of that out loud. You may even try doing it in front of a mirror, or a video camera.
I got kind of lucky with introductions. My first job was as a caddy, so I had to learn how to introduce myself, shake hands, respond to variations of "how are you doing?" appropriately.
My second job was stocking coolers at a ridiculously busy convenience store, started at about 15. So I watched lots and lots of people.
I have a weird problem with difficulty pronouncing my own name, Andrew, if I'm applying it to myself, but not if it's someone else's.