It can be tough to not know how to act at a party.
Do you mingle or stay in one spot?
How do you make conversation with strangers?
Parties can be either a lot of fun or total hell, depending on how prepared you are.
No matter who you are, or what your personality is like, you can learn how to be fun at parties.
Even if you’re not the life of the party by nature, with a little bit of preparation and effort, you can make sure that you have a good time.
Here are some tips to help get you started:
How to Be Fun at Parties
1. Be yourself – people will like you more if you’re genuine
Don’t try too hard.
This means that you shouldn’t act goofy if you’re not actually a goofy person.
The key to being fun at parties is confidence, so don’t be afraid or embarrassed to show your true self when you’re at the party.
Just be careful not to let it go too far.
You don’t want to be the weird guy who only talks about dinosaurs and never shares any other interests.
2. Take care of your appearance – dress nicely and groom yourself properly
When you’re at a party, the first thing people will notice about you is how you look.
Parties are a great way to get out of your house and mingle with people.
This is why it’s important that you take care of yourself before you go to a party.
Make sure that your clothes fit well, and look nice on you.
If you have a lot of acne, make sure to wear makeup that will cover up the worst spots.
Make sure your hair looks nice.
It can be really distracting if someone starts talking to you while part of their attention is caught by something out of place on your head.
Try and smell nice, too.
If you look good, people will be more interested in talking to you at the party because they won’t feel distracted by how you look.
Also, looking good will make you feel good and confident.
Remember, you need confidence to mix with people and be fun at parties.
3. Make sure to smile and laugh at people’s jokes – it’ll make them feel comfortable around you
If you’re at a party where you don’t know anyone, it’s easy to feel scared or uncomfortable.
You might be worried about being judged by others.
Some people may even have shyness issues that make them not want to talk very much when they first go to a party.
That’s okay – everyone’s human.
One way to help yourself fit in at a party where you don’t know anyone is to smile and laugh at people’s jokes.
If someone else says something funny, or if someone else tries to make a joke with you, go ahead and smile or chuckle so that the person knows that it’s okay for them to open up.
When someone finds out that you’re willing to laugh at their jokes, they’ll be much more comfortable talking to you.
If you do this enough times, people will eventually feel like you’re part of the group.
That’s why it’s called being “fun” at a party – because everyone wants to talk to you and have a good time.
4. Be open and honest with people, and they will trust you more
There’s nothing wrong with small talk at parties.
But more often than not, people go to parties because they want some deeper conversation.
They want to get to know someone better.
So instead of going around and only talking about the weather or the food, try being open and honest with people at a party.
If you feel like your life is pretty good, tell them why.
Let them know what your goals are for your future – they’ll be impressed by your openness.
Maybe they’ll want to share some of their own thoughts in return.
That’s the kind of thing that people will remember about you when there are literally dozens of other things that you could be talking about at a party.
People like knowing that they can trust other people, and if you show them that you’re willing to be open and honest with them they’ll want to become closer friends with you.
5. Don’t feel the need to be the center of attention – let others have their turn
Being shy at a party can make it hard for you to know when or how to join in on conversations that are already happening.
If you’re worried about being the center of attention, try letting others have their turn instead.
Don’t be afraid to just listen when people are talking about something that interests you.
If people turn to you and ask your opinion on things, go ahead and give it!
It’s even better if you can support someone else’s point at the same time.
For example, let’s say that someone else has a different opinion on TV dramas than you do.
If they make a point about something, nod and add “Yeah, I agree – it would’ve been better if [this other thing] happened instead” while also sharing your own opinion at the same time.
That way, everyone goes away feeling like they learned something new – and you’ve also supported someone else’s point rather than just trying to take the spotlight for yourself.
6. Remember why people go to parties in the first place
People go to parties for fun, and they want everyone else at the party to have a good time too.
So if there’s someone at the party who needs help having fun, you could help them out.
Maybe they’re shy like you are, or maybe they’ve never been to a party before in their life (in which case, do your best to make them feel welcome).
7. Talk to new people and make friends
Don’t stick to the same small group of people at a party – branch out and try talking to new people!
It might feel like everyone else knows each other already, but that’s not true.
If you leave your comfort zone and start talking to people, then it won’t be long before everyone else starts leaving their comfort zones too.
If you can’t think of any conversation starter, just try saying “hi” or making a compliment.
A lot of people are afraid to talk to new people because they think it’s going to be a boring experience – but a majority of the time, it isn’t anything like that at all.
In fact, talking to new people is usually pretty fun and exciting!
8. Dance if you want to dance
Not everyone likes to dance, but sometimes it’s nice just to get out there and shake around a little bit.
It might feel like everyone at the party is watching you (especially if everyone else is dancing) but that’s not true.
The people who are watching you probably don’t even care about what you look like – they’re just having fun themselves and feeling happy because of all the great music, which means it doesn’t matter how well or badly you dance.
You might feel self-conscious about dancing at a party, but the truth is that other people don’t care!
It helps if you can ignore what everyone else at the party looks like too – because no one wants to see someone who’s just standing around looking awkward.
If you feel afraid or embarrassed to even try dancing, just remember that dancing is fun.
Once you start dancing, people will see how much fun you’re having and they might even ask you to dance with them.
The truth is, everyone wants to have a good time at a dance party – and if you can show them that you’re enjoying yourself, then they’ll enjoy themselves too.
9. Drink in moderation and be aware of your behavior
It might seem like there’s no way to have fun at a party unless you’re drinking, but that’s not true.
If anything, drinking is the quickest way to ruin your night.
The truth is, everyone at the party wants to have a good time – and if people have to be worried about how their behavior might affect someone else’s night, then they probably won’t be comfortable staying for very long.
If you’re thinking about having a drink, just remember that it can make your party experience better or worse – and sometimes it might not even matter which.
Whether everyone at the party is drunk or sober doesn’t really affect how much fun they have – but it does affect whether they feel good or bad the next day.
Drinking too much can make you feel embarrassed and miserable, which definitely isn’t how anyone wants to spend their night.
If you don’t want a drink, then don’t let other people pressure you into it.
10. Eat before you go so you don’t overindulge in party food
If you’re going to a party where the food is provided, make sure to eat a good meal before arriving.
That way, if there’s no food or if all they have is unhealthy stuff like chips and cookies, you won’t feel as tempted.
You might even be able to avoid eating too much of the junk food that’s available.
11. Don’t let your phone get in the way of conversations
If you’re at a party for too long and there’s no one to talk to, it might be tempting to just whip out your phone and start scrolling through social media.
That’s a good way to not have any fun while you’re at a party because you won’t be talking to anyone.
If there really is no one else around that you can talk to, then it might be time to leave and do something else.
But if there’s someone nearby looking just as bored as you feel, go ahead and start up a conversation with them.
12. Be positive – focus on the good things, and avoid complaining
This doesn’t mean that you should never talk about your problems.
But if you want to be likable at a party, you’re mostly talking about the good things in life rather than the bad things.
No one likes a complainer.
Everyone has problems in life that they have to deal with; we all know that bad stuff happens to everyone and that no one’s life is perfect.
But if you’re constantly bringing those problems up and spreading them to other people, they’ll become less and less interested in finding out about your life.
They’ll just want things with you to be over as soon as possible so that they can go back to the conversation where everyone’s partying and having fun instead of constantly complaining.
13. Be funny – tell jokes and share amusing stories
If you want to be fun at a party, you should always try to make people laugh.
There are lots of ways that you can do this – it doesn’t need to be all dirty jokes or anything like that.
A simple pun or joke can make people laugh if it’s clever enough.
And if you want to go the extra mile, memorize a few humorous stories that you can tell at parties to make everyone roar with laughter.
Make sure the story gets across the main point that you’re trying to get across, but otherwise feel free to embellish the story if it means that people will be laughing even harder at the end.
14. Be supportive – offer encouragement to others, and join in when they need it
You should always try to be supportive of the people you’re talking to at a party.
This includes not only being happy for them on their successes but even going so far as offering encouragement on things that you don’t necessarily have personal experience with.
If someone says that they’re thinking about taking a dance class, tell them that they should go for it.
If someone says that they’re trying to get better at cooking, tell them how it can be fun.
The secret is to say these kinds of things in a way where you sound like you really believe what you’re saying – it won’t work if people think that you’re just trying to butter them.
15. Offer to help out with any tasks that need doing, like getting more drinks or setting up snacks
There are always going to be some people at a party who are willing to help out more than others.
You should plan ahead and decide early on that you’re going to be helpful.
If you offer your assistance to other people, they’ll be grateful, and that will make them more comfortable around you.
Additionally, people are far more likely to remember when someone else offered to help out rather than just expecting everyone else to do all the work for them.
16. Don’t talk about yourself too much – let other people speak about themselves instead
A big mistake a lot of people make when they’re at a party is that they’ll only talk about themselves.
That’s fine in a one-on-one conversation or when you know everyone really well, but if you keep doing it in a group setting you’ll come off as egotistical and rude.
Instead of going around and bragging about yourself to everyone, you should actively seek out opportunities to let other people talk about themselves.
People will be much more likely to remember that you did this, and they’ll appreciate your consideration.
17. Don’t feel bad about leaving early if you aren’t having fun anymore – just go home and get some rest
If you find yourself at a party where you’re not having fun anymore, then leave.
Just say goodbye to whoever is closest to you and head home.
Get some rest, relax – do what makes you feel happy.
You don’t have to feel bad about leaving a party just because someone else wants you to stay.
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