How to Be a Fun Person to Hang out With

Developing Fun Qualities

Be confident. Have a healthy sense of self or good self-esteem. Before you even begin trying to become a fun person, you have to believe you can be a fun person. Nothing is wrong with believing in yourself, and it's looked up to but never looked down on. Most confident people have insecurities. There are many ways to build confidence or self-esteem. Try making lists of your strengths and accomplishments. People often focus on their downfalls rather than successes. Remind yourself why people should think you’re fun. Identify and discount any negative ideas you have about yourself. If you think of yourself negatively, others will follow suit. It is important to recognize where your weaknesses are and try to fix them. Don’t be overconfident. Few things are less appealing than egotistic individuals. Don’t be a snob either. People don’t like others who cannot be humble.

Be willing to open up. If you guard yourself or put up walls, no one will get to know you. If they cannot learn more about you, they won’t think you’re fun. Learn to open up. Be relatable. People want to hang out with others that have similar aspirations and fears. Tell people what yours are. Talk about your life goals, family, other friends, love of puppies, or whatever else makes you tick. Everyone shares basic goals or concerns. Chances are, if you try, you'll find common ground with just about anyone.

Be spontaneous. Don't be afraid to take chances. Think about the fun people you know. They take chances on a regular basis, both socially as well as in their life. This is hard at first and takes practice. But the more you do it the sooner it will just become a part of you. Don't think too much, regardless of what anyone tells you. Don't overanalyze things and don't spend a ton of time wondering what could go wrong, what someone else in your position would say, or how you should react to what they're going to say next.

Be open-minded. Be open to new experiences and different opinions. Try new things. They can be spontaneous or planned out ahead of time. If a friend wants to see a band play a concert, but you don't like the band, try going anyway. Be open to experiences even if they don’t fit your specific tastes. You can always find ways to have fun. Everyone is entitled to their opinion. You can still have fun with people even if you don’t agree with their politics or religion. Find things you have in common and emphasize them in conversation. If you know your friend has controversial opinions on a subject, avoid it.

Being a Fun Person to Talk to

Show interest. The most important thing to remember about having a conversation is that it goes both ways. Listen and show compassion to others. If people think they can talk to you about anything, they’ll invite you to hang out more often. Don’t monopolize the conversation. If you ignore people or always talk about yourself, they won’t invite you anymore. Ask questions. This is a good way to keep a conversation going. It also shows the other person, that you are trying to understand their story or problem. Offer advice if needed or wanted. Some people just want someone to listen to them. They need to get a load off of their chest. Be the person that listens. Give advice based on personal experience.

Be positive. Focus on the positive aspects of your life, what you are looking forward to, or what you want to do. We all know that misery loves company, but if you are miserable all the time, others won’t want to hang out with you. If you catch yourself saying something negative, try to counter your comment with two positive comments. Try to cheer up the people around you. It will show them that you are compassionate and will generally leave them with the impression that you are a good, fun person. Being positive is a goal as much as it’s an instruction here. Trying to be positive can have an effect on your own mood and quality of life. If you’ve had a terrible day, you can talk about it with people around you, but don’t dwell. Be positive that things will improve. Being positive helps to reduce stress, depression, and even blood pressure.

Have positive body language. Your body needs to match your persona. You can pretend to be cool, say interesting things, and be confident, but if you body screams the opposite, people won’t want to hang out with you. Open your stance up. Don’t close yourself off by crossing your arms or hunching over. You want your body to tell people that you welcome their approach. Lean forward. Psychologists explain that leaning forward during a conversation indicates interest. People will think you are more fun to hang out with if you show interest in what they have to say. Lean slightly forward over a table when a friend is talking to you. Make eye contact. This is another sure-fire way to tell someone you’re listening to them. With all of these body language principles, don’t overdo them. Opening up your body to ridiculous lengths (like walking around with your arms and legs spread out as far as they can go), leaning too far forward, and refusing to break eye contact, can be incredibly off-putting.

Crack jokes. Be confident in your humor. Embrace bad jokes and good ones. If a joke doesn’t get any laughs, just move on with the conversation. Don’t make it awkward. Don’t be afraid to tell a corny joke or make a silly pun. Insert impressions when it fits the conversation. Do your best (or worst) impression of someone you all know, whether it’s a teacher or a coworker. Make comical references to popular movies or television shows. Don’t be afraid of playing the fool, if you are comfortable with it. Dance like a complete fool, pretending like you think you’re the best dancer ever. Wear a ridiculous outfit, or a graphic tee with a silly message.

Smile and laugh. Even if you don't feel like smiling, putting on a grin radiates approachability, positivity, and friendliness. But looking the part of a fun person is half the battle, and it's not even really much of a battle because once you get the hang of it, smiling just becomes a reflex, and an attractive one at that. Of course, don't overdo it and be annoying. You don’t want to make people uncomfortable.

Having Fun Interests

Learn how to “hang out”. Hanging out can mean different things to different people. Some people like to just sit around casually, watch TV, play games, or just talk. For others, hanging out can mean doing interesting activities outside the home. Figure out what your friends or prospective friends consider hanging out to be and then tailor your interests to that crowd.

Tap into popular culture. At least, be aware of all areas of popular culture. Once you have a solid base, you’ll be able to keep up with and contribute to a variety of conversations. Be wary of criticizing popular culture too much. Read the room. You don’t want to be the only one that consistently bashes popular culture topics. Have an opinion, but just make sure that you don’t offend or turn anyone off.

Develop a variety of interests. If you have appealing interests or skills, then others will flock to you if they have similar interests. Figure out what interests you naturally, then accentuate those aspects of your personality. Try not to limit your options. What one person considers cool, another person will consider weird. Don’t be afraid to learn to do something physical. Learn to juggle, do gymnastics, play a sport, or dance. You can invite people to do these things with you after you’ve developed the skill. They’ll admire you for it. And you’ll have something to talk about. Learn something new that excites you. You’ve found wikiHow so this should be easy to do. Learn a language, how to make Italian food from scratch, what it takes to do improv comedy, how to write fiction, or how to identify birds based on their songs. It doesn’t matter as long as it excites you. People like learning new things and if you know a lot about something, you can share your excitement for the subject with them.

Explore a new part of your city or neighborhood. Just like with skills or knowledge, some people like to get out and try new things. Search for new opportunities in a new part of your town you haven’t seen before and invite your friends to join you, seeing it all as a new adventure. There are a number of great online sources, like TripAdvisor or Eventbrite, that can educate you on your area or events happening near you. Know about your area. Know about new restaurants or public events. Everybody has to eat, so if you know of a great restaurant, you can suggest it. Everybody likes listening to music. Find outdoor concerts in your area and suggest them too. Don’t be afraid to think outside the box. Look for different events like slam poetry, roller derby, museum or gallery showings, cooking classes, or yoga in the park. Participate in eclectic events. It will show just how open-minded and spontaneous you are.