Always in the Kitchen at Parties: Simple Tools for Instant Confidence. Leil Lowndes

      and HarperElement are trademarks of HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd

      First published in the UK by HarperElement 2006

      © Leil Lowndes 2005

      A catalogue record of this book is available from the British Library

      Leil Lowndes asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work

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      Source ISBN 9780007199785

      Ebook Edition © FEBRUARY 2015 ISBN: 9780008138400

      Version: 2015-11-04

      HarperCollinsPublishers has made every reasonable effort to ensure that any picture content and written content in this ebook has been included or removed in accordance with the contractual and technological constraints in operation at the time of publication.

      contents

       Cover

       Title Page

Copyright

Preface

Section I: A Word to the Shy …

Don’t Be an Avoidance Junkie

SHYBUSTER 1 Go Cold Turkey on the Small Stuff

Don’t Expect a Miracle (Today at Least!)

Welcome

SHYBUSTER 2 Eat the Peaches at Your Own Pace

The Confidence Warm-up

SHYBUSTER 3 Wake Up Like a Whacko

Section II: Why Am I Shy?

Take the ‘Cot Test’ to See if You Were Born Shy

SHYBUSTER 4 Ask Them if You Freaked Out

Did I ‘Catch’ a Dose of Shyness?

SHYBUSTER 5 Rummage Through Your Relatives

SHYBUSTER 6 Did Shyness Rub Off On You?

Was it Bullies in Bygone Days?

SHYBUSTER 7 Replay the Early Show

It Was All Mum and Dad’s Fault

SHYBUSTER 8 Don’t Baby Your Baby

So Who Ya Gonna Blame?

Section III: Dealing with People Until Your Shyness Is Gone

Should I Tell People I’m Shy?

SHYBUSTER 9 Why Tell Strangers?

Labels Are Lethal

SHYBUSTER 10 Don’t Burn Yourself with the ‘Shy’ Branding Iron

Tell the Truth, the Half-truth, and Nothing But the Half-truth

       SHYBUSTER 11 I’m Shy, So What?

       Section IV: What People Really Think of You

       Can People Tell I’m Shy?

       SHYBUSTER 12 Be Shy on the Sly

       Take Off Your Mud-coloured Spectacles

       SHYBUSTER 13 Pitch the Paranoia

       Don’t Be a Sucker for Rejection

       SHYBUSTER 14 Don’t Choose Toxic Friends

       Come Back Down Off the Ceiling