Family is a great place to practice your conversation skills. Staging mock conversations with family will enable you to gain confidence and control your shyness.

Gain support

The first thing you need to do is to enlist help and support from your family. Your family may have to make many necessary changes and adjustments in their daily schedule to help you with your plan. Giving them a fair idea about this, ensures full cooperation and support. You should also appreciate their efforts and take their suggestions and advice sportingly.

Getting started

After ensuring support from your family members your work will be made easier. You now need to decide the days on which you can conduct such mock conversations. This enables everybody involved to adjust their routines accordingly. You also need to decide the different places where you can stage such conversations. In the beginning, you can start with your home and as you gain confidence you can venture out in the garden where your neighbours can pry over the fence. You can make a list of all situations, which you find intimidating. You can then stage a scene where your family members each have a role to perform. For example if you afraid of initiating conversation with a shopkeeper, your father can become the ideal shopkeeper. You can start with the least anxious situation and practice it frequently.

When you are confident you can meet the real situation outside. If you are successful you can move on the next situation. Mostly situations like interviews and presentations top the list. During mock conversations you can practice some forms of therapy like relaxation, imagery. in order to make the situation feel as realistic as possible. You can also construct one situation in different ways and forms. Try and keep room for errors. Also gain feedback from your family through discussion at the end of each mock conversation. Mock conversation will not only give you necessary confidence, but also a support group that will cheer for your from the sidelines as you confront your shyness.