Expert reveals the top habits you should avoid that instantly make people dislike you
How to win friends and influence people isn't just the title of a book, it's also a daily concern for many people who go through life wishing they were more adept at social situations.
If you're struggling to make connections in life and get the feeling that wherever you go people you interact with don't like you, it might be because everyone else sucks, but perhaps it's actually you that's the common denominator.
There's always space for a spot of advice on how you're doing and a recent chunk came in the form of Charlie Houpert, who runs the Charisma on Command channel.
In a recent appearance on Diary of a CEO, the author and YouTuber discussed some things people did which made them unlikable in social situations.
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One of the main points of not being dislikeable that he found was not needing to win every exchange of conversation - like, we've all been a part of conversation where someone feels the need to one-up everyone else's achievements.
Houpert said: "It is cute once, but it becomes frustrating to have someone have to win every banter exchange between friends.
"To have to win every banter exchange and have a burn that you come out on top of, not a good one."
If you always need to get the last word in and get one over on people you're speaking to, then they might not want to speak to you any more, since it becomes a competition where they're going to lose.
Another thing Houpert suggested people avoid if they didn't want people to dislike them was 'to interpret ambiguous communications negatively'.
He adds that it's especially difficult when it comes to conveying sarcasm - though, that's something us Brits don't have to worry about.
Houpert offers two ways to go about it, either by laughing to indicate it's been taken in good faith, or 'double and triple down on it until it's clear that you are being absurd'.
"You want to interpret ambiguous communications charitably, this is a big one," Houpert explained of winning people over when you're not sure whether the person speaking to you is actually on your side.
He brought up the example from the TV show Ted Lasso where the titular character would respond to ambiguous interactions well.
"This often will take people that are trying to take digs at you and make them flip, and in the case that somebody was just a bit socially mis-calibrated it gives them the opportunity to not be cast as the bad guy in the interaction." he said.
Now you know, which cartoons from decades gone by assure me is half the battle.
Joe Harker