[amusedmastery]

One way to increase your social skills immensely is to work in outside B2B sales for a while (unless you're already gainfully succeeding in another field). You'll learn to be quick on your feet, read and manipulate people to your advantage, and honest to God lose any and all approach anxiety. You also develop witty banter skills and start picking up on tells, such as when to end the conversation or when to push for the close. Being exposed to and forced to present yourself to countless new people on a daily basis is priceless.