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Definition: Social Skills

Social skills are the skills that enable a person to interact and communicate with others in a meaningful way. Social skills are closely allied to Emotional Intelligence (EI)- a kind of intelligence or skill that involves the ability to perceive, assess and positively influence one's own and other people's emotions. In order to interact effectively with others, one has to be able to monitor and control one's own emotional state.

What counts as being socially skilled will vary from culture to culture, but there are a number of attributes or skills that can generally be included:

* The ability to remain appropriately calm in social situations.
* 'Active' listening skills, listening and letting others know that you have listened.
* Feeling empathy with other people, and expressing interest in them.
* Rapport building skills.
* Appropriate degree of self disclosure.
* Appropriate eye contact.

Further information

* Six Key Social Skills
Discover more about the six key social skills and how to improve your social skills in any situation.