When you are outside your home, be friendly! Strike up conversations, ask questions of people around you. Help your child learn confidence and strategies for talking to people they don't know.Conversations and interactions can be easier if they are organized around a common interest or activity. Here are some ways parents can help:Sign your child up for sports or other activities that involve their peers. Make sure it's something they have at least some interest in doing.Get to know the parents of some of your child's peers — and invite them all to an outing or meal. It could allow the children to get to know each other while taking some of the pressure off.When planning playdates, think about fun, cooperative activities — like baking cookies, or going to a park or museum.Talk with your child regularly about their day, about their interactions, and how things made them feel. Listen more than you talk. Be positive and supportive. Remember that part of being supportive is understanding your child's personality and seeing the world from their eyes. You can't make your child someone they are not.