One helpful thing that can help you with social anxiety is using scripts. This is a great way to set the "what if's" to rest. A good way to practice this is when you need to make a phone call. Phone calls are a common anxiety-producing activity for people with social anxiety. You may worry that you're going to forget what you want to say, that you're going to stutter, or that you're going to blush even though the other person isn't in the room.



Instead of worrying, write an outline or script for yourself. Write down who you are calling, why you are calling and what questions you have. Also be sure to write down some ideas of responses for things you might be asked. Just brainstorm a bit. Simply writing these things down will help you to solidify things in your mind. When you make your phone call, you'll have all the information you need in front of you.

If you get especially anxious when making phone calls, try practicing by calling a few stores just to ask what time they close. Write your script out. Write down the name of the store you are calling and write out your script. It should look something like this:

SuperStore

SuperStore employee: "Thank you for calling SuperStore. This is Bob. Can I help you?"

You: "Hi. What time do you close?"

SuperStore employee: 9 o'clock.

You: Okay. Thank You.

SuperStore employee: Okay. Bye.

You: Bye.

For many people, this may seem like a simple conversation, but for those with social anxiety, it can take a lot of effort and produce a great deal of anxiety. For those who blush excessively, it can sometimes trigger a blush, or cause you to worry that it might happen. Being able to reduce your anxiety by practicing with a script will help.

Once you are comfortable making phone calls to ask simple questions, work your way up to calling to ask more complex questions or calling people to have conversations. If you run into a roadblock during a phone conversation where someone says something that stumps you or causes you anxiety, write it down and brainstorm some responses for the next time.

Once you are comfortable with using scripts to help with anxiety when making phone calls, try writing out a script for something that you need to do in public. Maybe you're going out to dinner and you usually blush as soon as the waiter shows up at your table. Try writing a script out. Brainstorm the questions the waiter usually asks. Write down some responses. If you know what you're going to order, write it down. You don't necessarily have to take the script out and refer to it in the restaurant. Many times, just the act of writing things down will solidify things in your mind enough that you'll automatically start being more comfortable in whatever situation you're in.