Being interesting is equally vital as being successful.
Gone are the days when being busy to cultivate hobbies is considered a badge of honor. At present, people are more willing to listen to what you have to say when you have a “life.” It shows that you’ve got a balanced personality.
Furthermore, being an interesting person helps you expand your network. You’ll get to know different people from different sectors of society.
Being interesting encourages the flow of conversation, especially in social situations. You ask others what they’re interested in, and they ask you what you’re into. It’s a way of endearing ourselves to others, thus creating meaningful bonds.
Perhaps you have someone in your workplace who is considered to be a fascinating individual. Are you wondering how they do it?
The good news is that you can actually work on becoming a more interesting person.
In today’s article, we’ll give you 11 strategies on how to be a more interesting person.
Let’s get to it…
1. Be passionate about something.
Think about a time in your life when you were talking to your friends about something that you were (or still are) passionate about. Did you notice that you had everyone's complete attention?
Think about how your energy commanded attention as you spoke articulately with confidence. Your friends believed what you were saying and wanted to hear more.
Being passionate about something isn't just about being knowledgeable, it is also about feeling strongly about the subject. Having a passion gives people a sense of purpose in life. Passions help people feel like they are on the right path and generate hope for an exciting future.
The important thing about your passion is that it is yours. It isn't about what society or your family tells you that you should care about. It isn’t about what your best friend cares about. It’s what you love in the most honest part of yourself.
Be an advocate for a cause that you believe in. Make a difference and the world will notice, even rally behind you. People gravitate towards others who have taken the time to become a master on subjects that many are uncertain about.
Passionate people show a lot of self-assurance and certainty when they talk, making their values and goals clear to anyone listening. The most captivating and charismatic people live by following their passions.
If you struggle with knowing what you want from life, the video below explores and provide practical strategies you can use to find your life purpose.
2. Read as much as possible.
Reading excites your brain and gives your sense of creativity a chance to thrive.
Your brain creates new connections while you read as you create unique pictures in your mind that can then serve as inspiration in any part of your life. Reading also boosts your vocabulary, which is important because nothing is more attractive than intelligence.
Immerse yourself in as many ideas and interesting stories as possible. Through reading, you will start to view the world in a more complex and comprehensive way, which will help people of all kinds relate to you better and want to be around you.
Because you can read about more than you can personally experience in your lifetime, reading can give you stories and feelings of new experiences that other people may find very interesting.
The more you read, the more you will have an understanding of a variety of topics. For example, you may be especially interested in keeping up with environmental issues, learning about a new culture, or learning how to create an effective schedule to meet your goals.
All of these things can be learned by reading.
By reading different types of materials, you can create a structured path toward understanding and taking better actions in the future.
Subscribe to an email digest such as Morning Brew to give you a daily heads up of what’s going on in the world.
If you prefer books, check out our long list of 250+ Best Self Help Books so you never run out of books to read.
3. Practice humility.
There is nothing that puts people off quicker than arrogance. Be sincerely humble and others will be more willing to be in your company.
Being humble is a critical part of captivating someone's attention because it shows that your focus is on other people and you have someone else's best interest in mind.
This allows people to trust you. Humility is achieved when you have an open mind and heart. Those who practice humility are approachable and genuinely care about other people.
But, you may wonder how to show other people that you practice humility. Here are some sure signs that you are humble, which will encourage other people to respect you as a leader.
1. You practice active listening. You truly try to understand other people's viewpoints and know that you can always learn when listening to stories from different angles.
2. You practice within your competence. If you don't have an answer, you don't try to make something up. Rather, you are willing to turn to other people who have more information than you do.
People with humility also consult other people to get a variety of opinions when they need to make important decisions.
3. You engage in continuous improvement. This may involve regularly asking other people what you can do better. People with humility are always on a path to self-improvement.
To learn more about continuous improvement, read our guide on the concept of kaizen.
4. You give credit where it is due. People with humility don’t take credit for other people's work, they acknowledge those who deserve it.
4. Develop your sense of humor.
People gravitate towards funny individuals for several reasons. But one reason why people continue to choose to spend time with others who are funny is because it is easier to trust someone who can make you laugh.
In a way, humor helps uncover your authentic self. If you have not found your funny bone yet, there are strategies you can use to help you become funnier.
If you are a leader and can make people laugh, your team will be more comfortable and they will feel more at ease in their workplace. Further, if you are able to crack a joke in the middle of an uncomfortable situation to break the ice, it will make other people feel more calm and secure.
Plus, funny people have more confidence. When you feel that sense of certainty about yourself, you will be more secure about your social skills and will be more likely to interact with other people.
Your outgoing personality will captivate the attention of others, which can help you gain friends, business partners, and potential customers.
5. Be different.
Being different and doing things unlike everyone else gives you more avenues for expressing your authentic self.
Standing out from others makes you more interesting and people will notice you among the crowd. You are unique from everyone else and you should have the courage to celebrate that.
Your life experiences make you the person you are. The combination of everything that you have learned and the things you have done make you truly different from anyone else.
If you dare to think differently and express those thoughts, people will be interested to listen to what you have to say. Others will be impacted by your unique contributions.
You should feel free to live your best life, which means you need to be a true, genuine, and real individual. Don’t conform to everyone else to fit in with the crowd.
One main reason why people don’t dare to be different is because they are too concerned about what other people will think. But the truth is, no one cares.
Sometimes, in order to be different, you need to try new things to see what you like. This may mean that you travel to a remote place that few people have heard of or you try picking up a new hobby like writing poetry or making food from another country.
Just follow the things that make you happy and stick with them, regardless of what other people think.
6. Celebrate your weirdness.
The truth is, being weird is a blessing. It means that you are creative, honest, genuine, and not afraid to be true to yourself.
It's a good idea to branch out, and when other people see you being comfortable with who you are, they will be captivated by your presence. People will notice your ability to honor your true self, which is an attractive characteristic in anyone.
Maintaining the status quo is boring. To become more interesting, let your inner weirdness out for others to see. When you are ‘weird', people see you as not being exactly like everyone else, therefore you are interesting to talk to and look at.
No one wants to sit around and hear the same stories over and over when they can engage in a more fascinating conversation that is apart from the norm.
So go ahead and dye your hair pink or sing out loud in public. Dance down the halls at work, jump when the elevator is going down and try really hard to move that piece of paper across the room with your eyes.
7. Learn something new and do it.
Learning a new skill increases your success in different areas of your life. Start by pursuing topics that you find interesting that have nothing to do with your career.
Expose yourself to new ideas and even new people you wouldn't otherwise meet by researching local meetups on a variety of topics. Doing this will eventually help you talk to virtually anybody because you will probably know a little bit about something that they enjoy doing.
Just make sure you're not learning about a bunch of stuff that you actually find dull only for the sake of being knowledgeable. Instead, pursue topics that you actually find fascinating. That way, you will be animated and engaging when you're talking to other people about them.
Developing new skills can also make you helpful to others in any situation. If you learn useful skills, such as web design or how to use a sewing machine, you can become the “go-to” person any time a friend needs to build a website for their new business or hand-make a blanket for their new baby nephew.
There are so many new skills you can start learning today. Take some time and promise yourself that you will say “yes” to every invitation that is offered to you, no matter how much you would rather stay home. This will help you gain new experiences and talk to other people about the things they do that you may want to learn.
Learn to sail, learn a new language, learn about decorating or interior design– anything that has grabbed your interest in the past. Chances are, you will be happy that you expanded your horizons and you will be excited to talk about it to other people.
8. Develop an interest in others.
Becoming interested in others is one way to become interesting yourself. Dale Carnegie made this concept especially popular in his 1936 book, How to Win Friends and Influence People.
In his bestseller, he claimed that people can “make more friends in two months by becoming interested in other people than you can in two years by trying to get other people interested in you.”
Listen to what other people have to say recognize their rationale and actions. It can be hard to develop the habit of consistently growing by listening to other people and even wondering if you may be wrong about your own opinions. But if you listen to other people with your full imagination, you will get a fuller experience out of life.
Learning how to be a good listener and being more compassionate are two ways of developing your interest in others. The empathy that you will automatically show to other people as they are talking will make them want to engage in more conversations with you in the future.
9. Develop your curiosity.
Being closed off to the opinions and viewpoints that are not in line with your own is a sure way to become un-interesting. Being open-minded allows you to discover many things and try out new perspectives.
Consider yourself to be a lifelong learner in this way by being open to other people and expanding your view on issues. Always be curious about what other people think. Be open to absorbing everything that you can about our complex world by developing an interest in a variety of interpretations.
In fact, when you're with other people, you don't have to say a whole lot about yourself for other people to think that you're interesting. Alternatively, engage them in a conversation about their passions in life by asking thoughtful questions about their values and priorities.
Listen to their answers earnestly so you can follow up with more thoughtful questions.
Even if your questions sound simple, they will help you develop a baseline understanding of what they're talking about if it is something that you have never experienced yourself. This will help people find you truly interesting and engaging.
10. Have stories to tell.
Wherever you are, have a few personal anecdotes ready for when there is a lull in any conversation. Learn how to tell your stories in a way that will hold your listeners’ interest.
Knowing how to tell a story at the spur of the moment is a handy skill to have, so it is ideal if you can have a few personal anecdotes on hand to use to liven up a dull interaction.
Try to think of three dependable stories to have on hand that will entertain and engage the people around you. Get your audience engaged in your story by using hand gestures, voice dynamics, and facial expressions to help them visualize the scenario.
As you are describing the atmosphere of your story, give a solid physical description and be animated about it to add some humor.
Use descriptive and sensory terms that people can relate to by describing the sights, sounds, smells, tastes, and feelings of the story. This will help captivate people's attention and make them want to be around you more.
11. Ignore the naysayers.
Although it has certain advantages, playing it safe is being boring. To become interesting, you have to ignore others’ opinions of you and just do your own thing.
The truth is, people who don't have their own opinions or disagree with anything that anyone else ever says are pretty boring. It is hard to have a conversation with someone who goes along with everything that people say.
Say what you really think about things, even if you know that other people won't like it. Chances are, there will be someone around who agrees with you and will be happy that you had the nerve to speak up.
Final Thoughts on How to Be More Interesting
Hopefully, the suggestions above on how to be a more interesting person can help others become fascinated by you. Embrace your uniqueness and let it shine through with every interaction.
If you are interested in more self-improvement tips, you might also want to check out these blog posts:
- 33 Self-Awareness Activities for Adults and Students
- 12 Steps to Be More Social if You’re a Shy Person
- 13 SMART Goals Examples for Improving Your Communication Skills
Finally, if you want to ask better questions, then watch this short, 20-minute course to learn how to have a great conversation with virtually anyone.
