"Tell me about yourself"

Well, things are going pretty well. Instead of the usual stuff - reporting on my experiences and coming up with new general strategies - I thought I would write a quick post on a specific, more advanced topic.

Back on date #10, my companion asked me to tell her more about myself. I really couldn't think of anything to say, and she didn't have any specific questions. At the time, I sort of placed blame on her for not having anything specific. But now I've realized that I should have had an answer to the general question.

I really can't tell stories at all. That's one of the more advanced things that hinders me a bit socially, but so far, the issue has been dwarfed by more basic problems (like figuring out how I can be myself).

So responding to the request "Tell me more about yourself" is a good place for me to start learning how to tell stories. I read this article that gives some suggestions. The general idea is to phrase the answer in such a way that makes it interesting to the other person, by telling a story. The author also suggests that it takes practice (no surprise there) to be able to give a good answer.

So I've decided that the next time someone asks this question (it's inevitable), I will have a decent response. I won't try to recite something verbatim - I want it to sound natural - but I have something like this in mind.

"So, tell me about yourself."

"Well, I grew up in Brookline. I went to school outside of Boston for 6 years, studying computer science. That really took up a lot of my time - I didn't do much of anything outside of my school work. So when I finally finished, I started making up for lost time by taking up new hobbies, trying everything I could. Now I'm balancing them out with my career as a software engineer."

So that's my first shot at a general answer geared toward a new acquaintance. I tried to do what the article said, pulling my background together in a way that creates a single, memorable picture of myself. I'll probably practice it aloud (although I hate doing that) a few times, and I'll let you know how it goes the next time someone asks me to tell them about myself.