Do You
Struggle to Make Conversation? A Menu of
Options for Small Talk.
Small talk can be a big problem. I want to be friendly
and polite, but I just can’t think of a thing to say. Here are some strategies I try
when my mind is a blank:
1. Comment on a topic common to both of you
at the moment: the venue, the food, the occasion, the weather (yes, talking
about the weather is a cliche, but it works). “How do you know our host?” “What
brings you to this event?” But keep it on the
positive side! Unless you can be hilariously funny, the first
time you come in contact with a person isn’t a good time to complain.
2. Comment on a topic of general interest.
A friend scans Google News right before he goes anywhere where he needs to make
small talk, so he bring up some interesting news item.
3. Ask a question that people can answer as
they please. My favorite question is: “What’s keeping you busy these
days?” It’s useful because it allows people to choose their focus (work,
volunteer, family, hobby). Also, it's helpful if you ought to remember what the
person does for a living, but can’t remember.
4. Ask open questions that can’t be answered
with a single word.
See the blog: How to ask questions 31/01.14
5. If you do ask a question that can be answered in
a single word, instead of just supplying your own information in response, ask
a follow-up question. For example, if you ask, “Where are you from?” an
interesting follow-up question might be, “What would your life be like if you
still lived there?”
6. Ask getting-to-know-you questions.
“What internet sites do you visit regularly?" "What vacation spot
would you recommend?” These questions often reveal a hidden passion, which can
make for great conversation. I'm working on Before and After, a book about habits, and one side benefit is that I
have an excuse to ask people about their good and bad habits, and their answers
are inevitably fascinating. Plus people enjoy talking about their
habits.
7. React to what a person says in
the spirit in which that that comment was offered. If he makes a joke, even if
it’s not very funny, try to laugh. If she offers some surprising information
(“Did you know that the Harry Potter series have sold more than 450 million
copies?”), react with surprise.
8. Be slightly inappropriate. I can’t
use this strategy, myself, because I don’t have the necessary gumption, but my
husband is a master. Over and over, I hear him ask a question that seems
slightly too prying, or too cheeky, and I feel a wifely annoyance, but then I
see that the person to whom he’s talking isn’t offended–if anything, that
person seems intrigued and flattered by his interest.
9. Watch out for the Oppositional Conversational Style. A person with oppositional
conversational style (I coined this term) is a person who, in conversation,
disagrees with and corrects whatever others say. If you practice this style of
conversation, beware: other people often find it deeply annoying.
10. Follow someone’s conversational
lead. If someone obviously drops in a reference to a subject, pick up
on that thread. Confession: I have a streak of perversity that inexplicably
makes me want to thwart people in their conversational desires–I’m not sure
why. For instance, I remember talking to a guy who was obviously dying to talk
about the time that he’d lived in Vietnam, and I just would not cooperate.
Why not? I should’ve been thrilled to find a good subject for discussion.
11. Along the same lines, counter-intuitively, don’t
try to talk about your favorite topic, because you’ll be tempted to talk
too much. This is a strategy that I often fail to follow, but I should follow
it. I’ll get preoccupied with a topic -- such as happiness or habits -- and want
to talk about it all the time, with everyone I meet, and I have a lot
to say.
How
about you? Have you found any good strategies for making polite chit-chat?
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Perhaps you’d like to checkout my sister blog www.innermindreading.blogspot.com
and find easy, fast and efficient ways of working with
the issues or little unpleasantness’s in your life.
I am now featuring aspects of my upcoming internet
programme teaching Inner Mind
Reading.
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