[Teknodragon]

Something I've noticed about myself, and a few others when I game:
I find I have a hard time pushing into the spotlight when I play, especially in social encounters. Others don't really hog the spotlight, the space is open and they jump in easily. Part of it is trying to think of the *right* thing to say for the situation.

I'm hoping that I can find some advice here for those of us who tend to be on the quiet side at the gaming table.

[Medicineman]

my first Idea would be to ..."Lay out the Ground" crunchwise.
That means make/play a char with a lot of Skills  or one that has a lot to do gets lot of Opportunities to "shine"
A Rigger is a good example, he could repair things, drive the crew, he has Drones to gather Info, or Drones for Combat.
A Decker too,
 he can go for Datasearch, manipulate Kameras, protect his Chummers from the dreaded WiFi (unless the Team intends to infiltrate a Megacorp. Because once discovered the most logical security plan would be for the Corp to  attack them with a Dozen Deckers and 2 Dozen Agents, an Army a single Decker can never, never ever, hope to survive against ), and do lots of Electronic stuff.
If your Decker also has Burglar Skills ( Stealth, Lockpick, Electronics,Hardware) you are likely to be first in Stealth missions with even more chances to shine.
Or if Your Rigger knows skills like Groundcraft Mechanics, Hardware, Locksmith he could go out and steal a Car which is also a Boon, and a chance for a Mini Mission (to get that special Car) in the Spotlight.
So make yourself/Your Char useful in a lot of Situations so you get a lot of chances to"shine"
( and don't refrain from Min/Maxing mechanically ! If you have a lot of Skills that depent on LOG it is never a Crime to maximise your LOG, if you do a lot of Mundane Driving maximise your REA and  your Skills.
Its always better to try a roll with a Pool of 10-12 than with a Pool of 4-6 if You want to succed !!


It is also important to know a lot of Good and special People.
So check your Connections.
Do you know a Fixer or two ?
A Streetdoc or Streetschaman ?
These are People that can be of a tremendious Help to your Team
and because of this gives you/your Char to be of importance.
But don't ..."overdo " it.
Having Friends in Highplaces and using it to ....call in Lofwyr would mean that this NPC takes over and gets onto the "Centerstage"

With a Dance on the Centerstage
Medicineman

[Sipowitz]

Something I've noticed about myself, and a few others when I game:
I find I have a hard time pushing into the spotlight when I play, especially in social encounters. Others don't really hog the spotlight, the space is open and they jump in easily. Part of it is trying to think of the *right* thing to say for the situation.

I'm hoping that I can find some advice here for those of us who tend to be on the quiet side at the gaming table.

Don't worry about saying the *right* thing.
This isn't an Eminem song
 
Look
If you had
One shot
Or one opportunity
To seize everything you ever wanted
In one moment
Would you capture it
Or just let it slip?

My eldest has this issue and we are slowly working on it.  He still falls back into thinking there is supposed to be the *right* answer.
You're allowed to banter a bit, at least you should be able to. 

I will totally disagree with Medicineman.
I notice part of the issue is people tend to freeze up if they are looking too much at their *crunch*. Paralysis by analysis.
  (Personal Opinion- If everything is rolled for in the game I think your playing the game wrong-Personal Opinion)

[忍]

Something I've noticed about myself, and a few others when I game:
I find I have a hard time pushing into the spotlight when I play, especially in social encounters. Others don't really hog the spotlight, the space is open and they jump in easily. Part of it is trying to think of the *right* thing to say for the situation.

There is a tear between the RP and the G sometimes. Agency plays a role in this because looking at Shadowrun from the "problem/solution" perspective greatly reduces the number of possibilities to RP your character. "What does your character do?" (What in-game mechanic is your character utilizing). Playing as such reduces characters to a handful of functions used to overcome obstacles.

On the other hand, there are actions, while likely to be highly RP-centric, that don't accommodate any in-game crunch. Having "the right thing"™ to say might enhance the experience while not having any mechanical relevance.

Ultimately there doesn't need to be the right thing to say as long as everyone is having fun and playing. So try not to hold yourself back merely because you feel that you don't have those perfect words for that perfect situation. Perhaps you could talk to your GM about conveying your character's intent and getting help "translating" your in-game action to eloquently crafted retorts and statements. Taking small steps towards increased involvement is a great way to be in the spotlight more.

---
Also to follow on Medicineman's post, having more skills does increase your in-game mechanical possibilities, giving you more Game agency. There's nothing wrong with that and it's a good way to gain more spotlight. Just know that it isn't the only way to do it. You can poke and prod at any given situation to see where your GM can work with you. (e.g. banter)

[Fizzygoo]

Something I've noticed about myself, and a few others when I game:
I find I have a hard time pushing into the spotlight when I play, especially in social encounters. Others don't really hog the spotlight, the space is open and they jump in easily. Part of it is trying to think of the *right* thing to say for the situation.

I'm hoping that I can find some advice here for those of us who tend to be on the quiet side at the gaming table.

As the others have said, don't worry about saying the "right" thing. Throw things out until things start to gel for how you think your character really would act.

Talking about social encounters, the following works for both those who have a hard time speaking up/stepping into the spotlight and those who "hog" it;

First Identify if your character is the focus/main character of the scene, part of the ensemble, or a minor character.

  *  If you're the main character of the scene (the Big Bad is talking to you about your brother being captured, the Johnson specifically hired you and only wants to talk to you, the Azzie blood mage is asking only you how you feel about having your leg flayed, etc.) then dive in! The GM made a scene where your character is the focal point. Allow other players to make quips and thrown in their 2 nuyen, but it's all yours. If you have a hard time speaking up or reacting then try things like; when speaking out of character raise your hand, say things like "My character knows what their going to say but I need a second to figure that out," and "My character speaks much faster than this," or "Give me a second to get what my character will say right." A respectful GM will give you the space to figure that out, and respectful players will go with the first best-fit idea and not take up a lot of time trying to get it perfect.

  *  If you're part of the ensemble (combat is usually the only time where everyone's equal as initiative determines when you get to go and each character has their roll [though there's lots of exceptions (like characters acting 3 times in on CT vs 1, deckers not having anything to hack on the wilderness run, etc.)]) then you can have your character do their normal thing and throw in comments when you think of them. But for more ideas on how to jump into "socially" in ensemble scenes, see the minor character section below.

  *  If you're a minor character in the scene (standard meet and you're not the team's face/leader, one of the other characters are clearly the main character as in the examples above, etc.) then figure out how your character acts when people aren't talking directly to them. Do you use blades or other sharp objects to chip away or graffiti tables during meets with Johnsons? Does your character habitually flick through their AR display of "Tinder" matches while half listening? Does your character stare at the person speaking with high intensity, heavy empathy, or scary grimacing? Does your character fold their arms and do their best not to look bored? Or do they constantly look around the room for listening devices, astral intruders, and the like like a paraniod skittish runner? Figure out something your character does normally in these kind of situations and then when they come up, raise your hand (so not to interrupt the GM and the main character of the scene), and just state for the record "While Bob and Lisa are talking, my character is doing X." Now you've contributed to the scene while ceding the floor to the focal character(s) and given the GM a hook to switch the focus on to your character if the GM wants.
     A minor contribution like that during a scene will help you think of what your character is thinking...and then what they might say or interrupt with. If you stated at the beginning that your character attempts to focus and not get bored and then after ten minutes of the major characters of the scene going back and forth you burst out with "this is boring, let's go blow [the thing they've been talking about] up!" you've added comedy/drama, you've kept it focused on the topic at hand, you're moving the scene forward, and you're not hogging the scene. 

Which reminds me; check out rules on improv comedy. Things like; "focus on the ball" (where if the scene is focusing on a meet with a Johnson then things you're character does or says should either relate to that or should be quick explanations for why your character isn't listening/interacting) and your character can seem awesome if you make another PC seem awesome.

And remember...have fun exploring how to speak up at the table.

[TheWayfinder]

Sometimes I wish I had this problem at my table.   

The best way to make sure everyone has some attention and the spotlight to shine in your sessions is to keep your adventures or sessions simple to understand.  One of the things I notice a lot of novices and even some experienced GMs make the mistake of doing is making these complex epics that have more business being in a novel or TV series than an RPG.  This is not to say that you can't make such games, but you have to present them in such a way that you don't lose anyone you want to be involved in it.   Also, it's so damned easy to overcomplicate things.  Players will come up with ideas and solutions you've never thought of, no matter how savvy and clever you are, and they, themselves, can turn a session into a treatise on quantum mechanics and Beethoven's operas (that has happened at my table - I am not kidding) and then the guys who come to roll dice have nothing to do.  So try to keep them focused on the situation.

Secondly, make sure that your players make characters that fit the adventure you're going to run.  I cannot stress this enough.  One of the main reasons why the spotlight gets focused on some players is not others is because the others have very little to contribute based on the characters they make.  If you mean for an adventure with a lot of action, gunplay, Matrix and Magic, and someone makes a character that doesn't do any of that very well, if at all, like they brought a generic Face to the party who is also a stock broker or something on the side, he's likely not going to do much for the success of the run. 

Third, throw everyone a bone.  Sometimes, you have to do this just so your players have something to do, and other times it's to give them some confidence in their characters.  Give the razorguy a mook to cut up.  Give the decker a minor system to hack.  Give the mage a reason to cast his spells.  Give the rigger a chance to shine in vehicle or drone combat.  It doesn't have to be a big deal, just a small encounter, something simple and a little rewarding for the effort, so that the players don't feel as though they're wasting their time coming to the session.  When players feel as though they're not advancing enough during your game sessions, they will begin to tune out.  You don't necessarily have to make these encounters too easy.  In fact, this brings me to my next point:

Fourth, be ready to kill off PCs.  If players begin to believe that whatever they decide to do their characters will not be seriously hurt or killed, they will tune out.  A lot of GMs, for various reasons, are shy about killing off PCs, even if the player deliberately wants to suicide the character.  Without a sense of legitimate challenge, or if it at all seems that you're going to fudge the dice in their favor, or decide in their favor, or prevent them from suicide, your game will eventually collapse.  BE RUTHLESS.  This doesn't mean you have to be a sadist, it means that you must not care whether or not their PCs live or die.  To this end, I never roll my dice as GM; my players roll them for me in front of me, or I have Fantasy Grounds do it for me in front of God and everyone.  That way, it grounds the game in it's own reality.  And you must be ready to make a ruling that doesn't favor the player in the slightest if it cannot logically or even theatrically, be resolved in any other way.  That means if a PC puts his gun to his own temple, and pulls the trigger with a round in the chamber, kill him off.  Even if he manages to shrug off the damage.  Don't use the rules to save him.  Even if the player doesn't like it, at least he knows you mean business, and you are not trying to keep him alive so that he's merely an actor in your play. 

Fifth, organization.  Sometimes, you can't get to some players because you're too busy looking up stats or rules or whatever.  You should be prepared to run the game.  Even if you're doing this casually, know what to expect and be ready to quickly make rulings.  Bad rulings are better than no rulings, in my experience, and the longer you take to make a ruling, the more people will tune out because they don't have your attention to do anything they want to do.  Also, keep the table organized.  I don't allow books other than my own at the table, and tablets and smartphones have to be off the table at all times unless I give permission to use them during play, or if there's a call coming in (I'm not going to say don't answer your own phone).  I have plenty of breaks during my sessions, so they have all the time in the world needed to get personal business on their phones squared away.  That brings up:

Sixth, breaks.  Take breaks every hour of the session.  Sitting at the table for so long makes anyone weary.  Get everyone up, walk about, get something to eat, anything.  Step away from the table.  You'd be surprised how well this works. 

Seventh, don't let Brett Schiestrom drink caffeine.  This is one of my written rules, and if you ever meet this guy, keep him away from energy drinks, coffee, cola, and tea.  He will go hyper and will not stop his mouth!  I have seriously thought about calling an ambulance when it looked like he was having an epileptic fit, but alas!  it turned out he was just being Schiestrom. 

[Reaver]

This is kinda why I enforce Social Dice rolls at my table, and use them frequently. It actually helps players like Teknodragon....

With enforced social rolls, it matters less what Teknodragon, the player says, but what Teknodragon the CHARACTER says. This allows the player both the chance to RP, and have results, without those that are very good at RPing gain an advantage of not purchasing Social dice.

And through slow and steady encouragment (both from the GM and other players), those that are more socially awkward start to engage more.

Keep in mind too that the style of the GM and table bare some weight too. I GM in a mix of First and Third person perspectives, and run my table the same way....

[Adamo1618]

Get drunk

[Teknodragon]

Thanks, most of you, for good advice.

Abuse of intoxicants is not good advice.

[adzling]

Thanks, most of you, for good advice.
Abuse of intoxicants is not good advice.

That's why I can't post play videos of our sessions ;-)

We have this issue a little with our group, our face is not a natural face but she does make honest, good attempts to play social interactions even though it's not her forte.

I always give her a roll but will add some bonuses if she RP's well.

She also happens to not be the most effective character in combat situations, not just because her character is not built for it but also because she as a player doesn't have a head for tactical situations.
She tends to freeze up, run in the wrong direction etc at the worst moments.
But that just adds to the RP imho.

You don't have make perfect choices and be a 100% effective character to RP well, quite the opposite.

TL:DR think about how your character would respond in-character and base your actions off of that instead of "how can I be most effective".
By going with the former you will have better RP, better time at the table and usually act more realistically than just trying to figure out how to "win".

[Shadowjack]

My best piece of advice would be to do a soliloquy. Here is the definition, just incase anyone isn't familiar with the word. (it doesn't come up that much)

"An act of speaking one's thoughts aloud when by oneself or regardless of any hearers, especially by a character in a play."

This has a few advantages.

1. You can do it just about any time, in battle, while others are talking, while you're not in a scene, or when you can't think of something to say in character.
2. It can be a lot of fun ot hear the thoughts of a character, most of the time we just hear their words or or see their actions.
3. It adds a lot to a scene in general. It's especially useful if your character isn't a big talker.
4. It can be used to add tension to a scene or to give an inside look of something your character might not be comfortable voicing, such as his deep rooted fear of hellhounds.

Overall it's just a flexible tool for roleplaying and I encourage you to give it a try.

[Kincaid]

Honestly, the best memories are generally made when things don't go perfectly.  More than once, the guy playing the sam at my SRM table zones out during the planning stage and has absolutely no idea what our perfectly coordinated, fool-prooof (or not) plan is.  Sometimes he actually survives the experience.

But if you're looking for something to help you get into the groove of playing a character, come up with a shtick.  It doesn't need to be too elaborate or anything like that, it just needs to serve as a fallback for your brain when it freezes up at the table.  It could be "I flirt with every woman I meet" or whatever--it just needs to give you something to do during a scene.  The point here isn't to fully flesh out your character--shticks are fairly two dimensional by nature--but rather to get you more comfortable inserting yourself and your character into scenes.