Review: Overcoming Social Anxiety by JoJo Tabares

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Everyone is anxious in some social situations, and some people are anxious in all of them.  Such social anxiety has nothing to do with being homeschooled, but much to do with both personality and lack of communication skills.

According to author JoJo Tabares, a communication expert who used to be painfully shy, “Shyness isn’t part of my personality, as I once believed. It was simply the result of a total lack of social communication skills which allowed fear to enter in. In fact, research shows that most of what is considered shyness is just a simple lack of these vital skills.”

In her ebook Overcoming Social Anxiety, JoJo teaches these skills.  She writes, “The simple truth is that a few basic rules, tips and ideas built over these few lessons in this study will allow you to feel comfortable enough to begin putting yourself in social situations. Over time, a very short time, you will feel not just competent, but confident. You’ll not be simply proficient, but excellent and you’ll be able to handle even difficult social situations with more ease than most people who have no social anxiety whatsoever.”

First she explains how important communication is to your entire life, from college and job interviews to business, family relationships, and personal happiness.  She points out that people who communicate well “have longer marriages, deeper friendships, better relationships, more successful college and career experiences, make more money and are generally happier than their less articulate counterparts.” That makes sense because 87% of what you do every day is communication-related.

In fact, without good communication skills, people are even hampered in their efforts to reach others for the Lord.   Communication is important, vitally so, and helps us to live as Christians in all aspects of life.

If such important skills can be learned, we should make sure our children learn them.  Here’s what Overcoming Social Anxiety will teach you and your older homeschooled student:

Section II: Achieving Comfort

1. Ten Reasons to Overcome Social Anxiety

2. Seven Habits of Highly Successful Communicators

3. Communication ABCs

4. Organizing Your Communication

5. Six Simple Steps to Conversational Self-Confidence

6. Preparing to be a Great Conversationalist

7. How to Start a Conversation

Section III: Achieving Mastery

1. Understanding Communication Personalities

2. Learning from Six Bad Conversationalists

3. Creative Ways to Practice

4. Act “As If” and the Feeling Will Follow

5. Meet N Greet

6. Building Rapport

Section IV: Achieving Excellence

1. Ten Quick Rules for Disagreeing in Grace

2. Dealing with Negative Nellies

3. Dealing with Aggressive People

4. Dealing with Rude People

5. Dealing with People Who Dislike You

6. What to Do for Your Shy Child

The entire course is written in a chatty style, full of examples and helpful advice.  I consider myself fairly adept in social situations now (although in university I qualified to take part in a shyness-communication experiment where I mastered many of the life-changing skills taught in this course), but even I learned a few new ideas from JoJo.  I’m certain that studying this course with my children will enhance their lives as well.

Overcoming Social Anxiety by JoJo Tabares is an effective and worthwhile communication course for Christian teens and adults.  It can be read all at once, but for maximum impact a student will want to go through it relatively slowly, practicing new skills until they feel natural.  This course is an important addition to any homeschooling family’s library.

You can purchase Overcoming Social Anxiety directly from JoJo’s Art of Eloquence site.  For more information, examine a sample of this course.

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JoJo has written other communication courses geared especially to preschool, elementary, and teenaged homeschoolers, as well as a debate course that I reviewed previously and that we will be completing this fall.

Disclosure: I received Overcoming Social Anxiety from JoJo Tabares in order to write a review representing my own honest opinions.