How to Be the Life of the Party?

There are some men and women who naturally seem to belong to the center of a group. They are usually highly sociable, beloved of friends and families and even sought out in the workplace. And yet you find that they are rarely extraordinary in terms of looks or intelligence. More often they have an uncanny ability to make people feel at ease around them and attract others with their positive vibes and energy. The good news is that all this can be acquired by practice which is why if you too wish to be feted as the life of the party, here are a few tips to get you started.

Start with the basics

While being the soul of a party is more a matter of an attractive personality, following the basics of personal grooming will help people to feel comfortable around you and thus increase your social attraction. Ensure that you practice oral hygiene and before going out use a light perfume or deodorant, depending on the season and occasion. Nails and hair are two areas where many people unknowingly go wrong – if you have a tendency to flyaway or frizzy hair, make sure that it is properly styled or conditioned and if you have facial hair, keep it neatly trimmed. You can use makeup according to your discretion but always try and dress appropriate to the venue of the party.

Take care of your body language

Favorites of the party circuit are usually so on account of their friendly and outgoing nature. So adopt a relaxed and positive attitude when arriving at a party and meeting people. Use a natural smile to reach out to the other person and you are most likely to get one in return. Making eye contact is another crucial aspect of a positive body language; upon meeting someone for the first time, look directly into his/her eyes before beginning to speak. This will indicate your interest in the person before you and hold his or her attention. On the other hand if you keep shifting your gaze or darting glances at others, the person will construe it as a sign of embarrassment or even distraction.

Display an interest

While to be sociable, it is usually enough to know how to carry on a pleasing conversation, in order to be the center of a party, you need to draw people to you through conversation. While chatting with the guy or girl, ask them about their hobbies, likes and dislikes in music, movies and food. All these are little ways of making the other person feel special and someone who makes others feel this way will always be sought out in a gathering. Another great way to draw people out is to ask open-ended questions rather than those that can be answered with a ‘yes’ or ‘no’. For instance instead of enquiring if your companion has been on a vacation this year, try asking about the most enjoyable thing he/she did on their last vacation. At the same time though, don’t stick to one or two people at a party, no matter how much you may have impressed them – mingle around and let everyone get a chance to bask in the charm of your personality.

Be interesting

For all your skill at pleasing conversation, you need something extra to be the center of a party. Try and cultivate an interesting personality so that people who are jaded by the mainstream norms of beauty and financial success can instead be attracted to you on seeing that you possess something different and unique – It could be a skill in an exotic cuisine, with the cello, various languages or simply a way that you have with kids. Consider how you can stand out in a crowd and what makes you different – in an awesome kind of way – than others in your business or group. Every person is born with a special set of talents and you need to recognize and nurture that so that others in turn recognize your unique worth and are attracted to it.

At the same time though being interesting is as much about how you say something as what you have to say. In order to have people hanging on to your every word at a party, you need to communicate your passion and expertise to others around you in an engaging manner. One of the best ways you can do this is by telling stories since people connect better when you use stories. For instance if your passion is art, relate a little-known anecdote about the artist or one of his/her works. Try and inject some humor and wit into what you have to say. Also every once in a while stir the waters of conventionality by coming up with an original remark or opinion. However ensure that your stance is well-supported by facts since nothing fizzles out so quickly as an empty attempt at sensationalism nor makes a person appear so foolish. Likewise avoid personal attacks and nasty comments which will make you seem immature at best and reactionary at worst. Finally develop an instinct for the things people want to hear about at a party. There's no point in saying something if the listeners don't care about it. Instead keep in mind the kind of audience you have and tailor your conversation to what they'd prefer to hear about rather than what you wish to talk about.

Cultivate an artistic skill

Parties are not only about conversations – there is only so much you can ask about others and have others hearing about you. Sooner or later comes a time when people wish to be doing something fun and interesting and it is here that your skills with a musical instrument, belting out a tune or shaking a leg on the dance floor can come in real handy. Most guys and girls who are the life and soul of parties usually can sing or play an instrument since music is one of the most common ways to liven up things on the social scene. However if you are not confident about your musical skills, try and organize some party games – like in ordinary life, most people at parties too are waiting for someone to take the lead and if you can show the others how to have a good time, you are sure to be a favorite with the crowds in every party.