[solusglobus]

Read the book by Dale Carnegie (http://www.amazon.com/How-Win-Friends-Influence-People/dp/06...). Joining events on http://www.meetup.com/ can be helpful too.

[solusglobus]

To the OP, if you do not have time to read or if you are not sure whether it is worth reading, you can read the summary at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/How_to_Win_Friends_and_Influen...

First impression is very important when you are meeting anyone. One of the most important takeaways from the book is "be genuinely interested in other people".

[Tomte]

I've written another summary, focused only on a few points, but a bit more flesh, not just bullet points: http://www.2uo.de/how-to-win-friends/

[rullopat]

I've red it. It's made of behavioral patterns for sellers mostly, I think you will not get any real friend following the teachings of that book.

Meetup events are a much better way.

[kaybe]

When you find yourself following the advice in the book without trying or thinking about it is when you have met potential friends, I think.

[rullopat]

I tried the advice in the book, it's fine for superficial connections with people only. It mostly tells you to never contradict people to be more "likeable". It's OK for a first contact with people for sure, but not for establishing a real connection.