Session 2 : Improve your social skills
In this session we’ll show you how to use social skills to help you feel and look more confident when you’re with other people
What are social skills?
Good social skills really help people cope with an unusual appearance and they make socialising easier and more fun. When we talk about socialising we mean any time when you’re with or talk to other people. This could be meeting new people, talking to people at work, or going to the cinema or shopping in town.
In this session we are going to help you improve your social skills.
There are 2 parts to improving social skills
The first is learning about the importance of body language.
The second is learning helpful talking skills.
Why do I need to be taught social skills?
Because they help us to feel more confident, make new friends and discover new opportunities. When you have a visible difference, you’re sometimes at a disadvantage because of your appearance. But by using social skills you can overcome many of these disadvantages.

Donna has psoriasis (patches of red and scaly skin):
Social skills are very important, you can tell when people don’t have basic skills. You can see it when you meet them that there are some social skills missing there. I think that social skills are really good to work on.

Peter has a condition which makes both his facial appearance and his voice unusual.
He was worried about moving jobs in a town away from his family and friends.
Peter didn’t like talking about his condition and didn’t like answering lots of questions, and had developed some unhelpful responses to questions.
For example, he liked to wear a hat to help hide his face. When asked why he wore it he would reply “I have my reasons”.
This made him sound unfriendly, so he worked on some better replies. For example he would focus the attention on the other person rather than himself, “The hat was a present and I really like it – I like your shirt/necklace too, where did you get it?”
This approach made Peter seem much friendlier and he made lots of close friends like he had in his previous job.

Jean has a severe burn injury affecting her whole body.
She covered her scars wearing as much clothing as possible, often in dull colours and even in hot weather.
She avoided looking at people’s eyes, kept her head low and spoke in a soft voice. This made it hard to hear her, and she agreed that she was behaving like this so she would not be noticed. Jean learned to change her posture, she lifted her head and pushed her shoulders back, and looked people in the eye.
She found that if she smiled, people would smile back. She had her hair cut stylishly and began to wear clothes more appropriate to the season – despite the scars; she drew less attention than when she overdressed!
Finally she started to wear more colour. Because of these changes she appeared more confident. She found that people responded to her more positively as a result.
Now she feels much more confident.