Looking for the best social skills books? I’ve got you covered.
The list below includes books that’ll help you improve your social status and make friends easily.
Table of Contents
Top 5 Social Skills Books
1. How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie
One of the best social skills books, How to Win Friends and Influence People offers time-tested advice about getting along with people.
The book is full of practical tips and advice that you can immediately implement in your life to improve your social skills.
What’s in it for you:
- How to communicate more confidently
- How to make friends more easily
- Learn how to become likable and popular
- Learn how to navigate almost all social situations
- Learn the right way to influence people
2. Captivate by Vanessa Van Edwards
This social skills book teaches how to play to your strengths instead of trying to improve your weaknesses.
For example, if you’re an introvert and hate going to parties, you don’t need to force yourself to start going to parties just to be more sociable; instead, this book encourages you to forget about parties and attend events you’re more comfortable with.
Maybe you hate places where it’s noisy and crowded, so go to the cinema or go for a book club meeting or anything else you’re comfortable with.
And if you’re the party type, then go for it. Captivate offers helpful tips for thriving in social situations like parties and workplace events.
What’s in it for you:
- How to be yourself and still rock!
- Modern, up-to-date advice on improving your social skills
3. The Fine Art of Small Talk by Debra Fine
The Fine Art addresses the social situation most of us dread: small talk.
Making small talk is crucial in making friends and starting relationships, but most of us either dislike it or avoid it.
This social skills book simplifies the art of conversation, helps you become an excellent conversationalist, and makes you a delight for everyone you meet.
What’s in it for you:
- How to make small talk like a pro
- How to navigate awkward social situations with grace
4. How to Talk to Anyone by Leil Lowndes
How to Talk to Anyone is excellent for beginners wanting to improve their social skills.
The book will give you the foundation you need to grow your confidence and become more likable.
What’s in it for you:
- 92 tips for succeeding in relationships
- An excellent resource for improving your social life
5. The Charisma Myth by Olivia Fox Cabane
Can charisma be taught?
Scientists have figured out how to turn charisma into an applied science.
In this social skills book, Olivia Fox Cabane draws from various sciences to offer unique knowledge about what charisma really is and how it works.
You’ll learn to make the world your lab, and everyone you meet, an opportunity to experiment.
The Charisma Myth includes research-backed science, fun stories, and practical tools.
What’s in it for you:
- The insights and techniques for raising your level of charisma
Other Best Social Skills Books
6. Read People Like a Book by Patrick King
This social skills book aims to help you understand human psychology and nature.
It offers new techniques for reading body language, detecting lies, and speed-reading people.
What’s in it for you:
- How to influence and persuade others
- How to see through people’s actions and words
7. Surrounded by Idiots by Thomas Erikson
Surrounded by Idiots offers a groundbreaking strategy for analyzing people’s personalities based on four personality types: red, blue, green, and yellow.
The book provides insights into how we can improve the way we speak and share information with those around us.
What’s in it for you:
- Understand yourself better, improve your social skills, handle conflicts with more confidence, and get the best out of those you deal with
8. Becoming Bulletproof by Evy Poumpouras
Becoming Bulletproof aims to teach you to become a more confident, strong, and powerful person.
Evy Poumpouras demonstrates that true strength comes from the mind, not the body.
Poumpouras teaches how to overcome fears, have difficult conversations, influence situations, and prepare for unexpected setbacks.
What’s in it for you:
- Insights and skills to help you prepare for stressful situations, speed-read people, influence how others perceive you, and live a more fearless life
9. The Highly Sensitive Person by Elaine N. Aron
This social skills book focuses on highly sensitive people.
If you’re highly sensitive, Dr. Elaine Aron offers practical advice on how to understand your reality and make the most out of it.
What’s in it for you:
- How to create a sense of self-worth and empowerment
- How to make changes to live a fuller, richer life
10. Cues by Vanessa Van Edwards
In this social skills book, Vanessa Edwards analyzes charisma and the cues that massively impact how others perceive us.
Cues refer to our body language, word choice, facial expressions, and vocal inflections.
Edwards explores the hidden world of cues to teach you how to convey power, leadership, likability, trust, and charisma in all your interactions.
What’s in it for you:
- How to send across the right body language cues
- How to sound more confident
- How to improve your relationships and create meaningful connections
11. Influence by Robert B. Cialdini
Influence offers insights into why people say yes and how to use this knowledge in business and life.
You’ll learn how to become a more skillful persuader using Robert Cialdini’s six principles of persuasion: reciprocation, commitment and consistency, social proof, liking, authority, and scarcity.
What’s in it for you:
- How to influence others using time-tested principles
12. 4000 Questions For Getting to Know Anyone And Everyone by Barbara Ann Kipfer
Becoming a better conversationalist requires learning to ask questions.
And one of the best ways to keep a conversation going is to ask open-ended questions.
This book provides a list of questions that you can ask in your everyday conversations to make them more interesting.
What’s in it for you:
- 4,000 questions to help you become a better conversationalist