Succeed Socially – Social Skills, Conversation & Friendship Guide

Succeed Socially is an educational self-help website focused on improving social skills and helping people become more comfortable and capable in social situations. It was created in 2006 by Chris MacLeod, a Canadian counselor with a Master of Social Work degree, who developed the resource partly from his own experiences with shyness, loneliness and social awkwardness.

The site's extensive collection of free articles addresses the main difficulties people may encounter in their social lives. Major topics include starting and maintaining conversations, making friends, overcoming shyness, handling social anxiety and insecurity, improving confidence and developing a more effective overall approach to interacting with other people.

A recurring theme is that interpersonal abilities can be learned and improved through practice. The articles combine explanations of social situations with practical strategies readers can apply in everyday life. Succeed Socially also discusses broader issues such as feeling different from others, lacking motivation to socialize, becoming easily drained by social interaction and dealing with fears or negative expectations surrounding friendships.

The material is primarily intended for adults and older teenagers who believe their social skills are less developed than they would like. The website is not a social network, dating platform or general lifestyle publication. Its defining purpose is providing structured guidance for understanding and improving interpersonal communication and social confidence.

The site's content has also been developed into The Social Skills Guidebook. MacLeod additionally offers individual counseling for clients in Ontario, Canada, but the large collection of freely accessible educational articles remains the central feature of Succeed Socially.