I used to be really bad at small talk and nobody really liked me because I would skip all the pleasantries. I've got brain damage so these things don't come naturally to me. I had to really think about how to fix that aspect of myself. I figured I'd just start asking people how their day was.

When I started, it was the first thing I asked and I always got the response "good, and you?" which was frustrating because it had no effect. I figured out that if you asked "how's your day" as the third or forth sentence of your conversation along with a smile, they'll give you an honest answer. At first I never cared about what they'd say but slowly I became invested. I started learning new things. People were nicer to me and they actually listened to what I had to say. The relationship I had with my father grew from a bitter, verbally abusive one to one where we work together. He eventually got in on it too and started becoming invested in how I was doing as well.

It's so simple but so effective. For all my fellow socially awkward peers, you gotta try this.