I was an extremely shy child. I would hide behind my mother and not speak to anyone. When I was going into junior high, I joined band JUST so I didn't have to take gym. But band made me blossom. I'm now just about as outgoing as anyone you could ever meet. Get involved with something you love. When you are around people that share your interests, it's a lot easier to open up.

The foundation of shyness is concern over what other people are or might think about you. Obviously, if you didn't care what others thought about you you wouldn't be shy. So begin by acknowledging yourself, recognize that you are great and wonderful. You are absolutely unique in the universe. Know that. Accept youself, as youy are, without judgment. Now think about other people. How do you think of them, people you know, acquaintances and friends? How much time do you spend criticising them, in your own head? Probably not much, if any. The truth is, they don't spend much time criticising you, or anybody else for that matter. Most of us only ask that others acknowledge us, recognize that we exist and then go back to worrying about our own issues. There just isn't that much room in our minds to spend time worrying about others. Now back to you. If you can truly accept yourself, as you are, then you can accept others as they are. And you will not care, one way or the other, what others might think about you. Your shyness will evaporate as your recognition of your own self-worth grows. Since you are great and wonderful, there is nothing to be shy about. The truth is, you are your own harshest critic. And your self-judgments are just plain wrong. You are not ineffectual but powerful. You control the best mindin your universe. Nobody else can match you. So step into your own integrity, accept yourself as the wonderful person you are, nad release any concerns about what others might think. After all, they're too busy worrying about what you might think about them.

Act as if you are confident. Pretend you have high self-esteem.

I think one good tip is to pick friends you have alot of chemistry with. And ones that you have alot in common with. It's easy to slip into shyness when you are around people who bore you. Or who irritate you. Not nearly as easy to slip into shyness when you around people you can relate to and enjoy.

Get drunk!

I was incredibly shy in high school. I took drama classes which helped and then in college, I took a speech class. All that helped, but for me what helped the most was age (sorry I know that takes time).

Just try approaching people alittle at a time. I was so shy when I was younger, I couldn't even ask directions to a bathroom in a restaurant. But when you see that most people are nice and easy to talk to, you'll be just fine.

Try karate. I don't know why it works but it did for me.

Force yourself to be the opposite. There is really no other way.

http://socialturnaround.blogspot.com

Find something you're passionate about, and see if doing that helps. Not exactly the same thing, but I hate public speaking, but I was able to do it to gather signatures for a petition against a bill in my state. If you're really into, I don't know, stamp collecting, find a stamp collecting club so you can talk with folks about stamps. safe ground, you know?

I found imagining myself in a situation helped. Example: I would envision myself answering a question is class long before I could or as Cantras suggested imagine your self in the stamp collecting club or what ever the case is before you join.From one terribly shy person to other, good luck.

Face other fears you have and conquer them. The rewards of doing so will make you feel stronger which can help you confront your shyness. We might as well get good at things that are of importance while we are still young. The sooner we do, the more we will enjoy life.

Force yourself into social situations until the shyness goes away. That was my method for dealing with it.