SocialSelf is a platform founded by David Morin to learn and improve social skills to make friends and enjoy a good social life.
Awkward to Awesome is one of the offered social skills courses where David Morin teaches socially struggling men and women how to be more socially confident and successful.
Contents
About the Authors: David Morin & Social Self
David Morin is the founder of SocialSelf, a platform dedicated to helping people improve their social skills and build meaningful connections.
He started SocialSelf out of a passion for making interpersonal psychology accessible and practical for everyday use.
Before founding SocialSelf, David had a successful venture and exit in Sweden, but realized that true fulfillment came from bonding with others, and helping others enhance their social lives.
The SocialSelf platform positions itself as a resource for men who are not naturally extroverted. So the approach is not the high energy typical of some other platform and courses like Charisma on Command’s Charisma University or RSD’s Blueprint Reloaded, but a quieter approach that best fits introverts.
Here are some tips from one of the courses we reviewed:
Don’t Brag… Unless You’re Trump
David Morin says that bragging is bad and doesn’t work, but he also tackles some exceptions (and what might look like an exception).
For example, you might think otherwise by looking at popular people who brag (like Tony Robbins, for example).
But they’re not popular because of their bragging but despite it.
However, David Morin says it kinda works for Trump because he’s on stage and there the rules change.
Indeed, those “friends” are likely to disappear soon when the popular braggart falls out of grace.
In general, we agree with Morin that bragging is not good.
However, there are ways to make bragging work:
Group Conversation
There are videos of actual group conversations, with David’s written comments on what was good and what was wrong.
I absolutely loved that part.
It also included videos of sharing food, and here is a good tip there:
- when you’re eating, ask a question before you take a bite, so you don’t create awkward silences while you eat
🙋🏼♂️ Lucio’s note: also consider not thinking of silences as awkward, but as natural lulls. Be comfortable with silences, and silence will be comfortable for all
How to Decrease Social Anxiety
To decrease social anxiety, focus on your speaking partne,r which will get you out of your mind and erase the fear of being negatively judged.
PROS
- Real-life footage
I never liked courses with people speaking in front of a camera. Especially not social skills courses, where people, in my opinion, should learn by watching real-life footage.
So when I saw that David Morin actually organized a gathering with real-life interactions to use for his course I thought that was pure genius.
I want to do the same one day.
- Good basic information on social skills
“From Awkward to Awesome” covers most of the basics of socialization with good information for social beginners.
- Chance of asking questions
Some social skill courses tell people to “write an email” if they have any questions or they create a private group where “alumni” can talk to each other.
With David’s course instead, you can leave a comment right below the video to reach straight to the authors (albeit my comment didn’t get a reply, but I was probably a bit of a special case :).
- David Morin walked the talk
David shares his story as an awkward person himself and not very socially talented.
That makes him a great teacher for the socially shy and the beginners who are looking to get a better grasp of the unwritten rules of socialization.
CONS
- Some interactions were a bit at a superficial level
Some of those interactions were a bit too surface-level and small-talk-ey for my taste.
That’s a matter of personal opinion of course and maybe the fact they were filmed didn’t help people to loosen up.
- Skips the ‘darker aspects of socialization’
While on our website and courses we include topics such as manipulation, red flags, and dark triad strategies, David Morin and SocialSelf focus more on general social skills.
- Less focused on social power dynamics
Which may make it more challenging for typical nice guys to gain status and respect. Especially when moving within more competitive contexts.
SocialSelf vs. The Power Moves
Both frameworks sit under social skills, but they aim at different outcomes.
SocialSelf focuses on getting along, smoothing interactions, and making friends.
TPM, instead, focuses on using social skills strategically to move ahead, gain leverage, and shape outcomes.
Same arena, different game.
Read more about these two different approaches in:
Or watch this video:
Lucio: Social skills are about communion, fitting in, and being liked. Power skills are about agency, moving upward, and being respected and attractive
Socialization’s ‘Darker Side’
SocialSelf also approaches relationships from a place of honesty and genuineness, something we appreciate.
Where we depart, is that we believe that knowledge and mastery of the ‘darker’ side is still necessary to lead a successful and quality life. And this remains true, and it’s probably even truer, for men who want to avoid manipulation and be instead ‘honorable men‘, an approach we also champion and prefer.
We also develop traits like power intelligence and skills like strategic thinking that apply not only to socialization, but to achieving goals in general.
| Social Self | TPM (Power-Aware Self) |
|---|---|
| Focus on social skills | Focus on power skills |
| Goal: Seek belonging | Goal: Seek agentic goals (ie, status, influence, and attraction) |
| Lifestyle: Social | Lifestyle: Able to ‘walk alone’ if preferred |
| Risk: Staying too nice, overlooked, and failing to attract or maintain attraction | Risk: Staying too calculative, overly focused on power dynamics |
| Upsides: Socially skilled, enjoy a happy social life | Upsides: Gain confidence, job promotions, and date around |
What’s right for you?
Answer these questions:
- Beginner and not interested in getting ahead? Go with SocialSelf.
David Morin and his team are great. If you then seek more ‘results’, consider TPM. - Ambitious smart man with enough social skills? Consider TPM to achieve goals
If you’re ambitious but still poor at social skills, check this article:
Review
SocialSelf articles and courses are solid, and David Morin is a good teacher who knows what it takes to go from wallflower to enjoying a fulfilling social life.
Specifically, Awkward to Awesome is unlike anything I have seen since it’s real-life footage of an event.
The videos cover most of the basics when it comes to conversations and social skills, including storytelling, social status, introducing yourself, etc., etc.
David Morin also seems a genuine guy, which is not always the case with people in the social, dating, and self-help industry.
Morin’s approach to social skills is quite different from The Power Moves.
We focus more on gaining confidence, status, respect, and attraction.
David Morin and SocialSelf focus more on a happy and fulfilling social life.
Less ‘as a leader’ or ‘alpha male’, and more of a happy group of people who like each other.
I think both approaches are valid and they must not be mutually exclusive, but can be complementary.
