Learn more about communication with this collection
How to network effectively
How to read body language
How to find common ground with others
Awkward conversations with strangers
In a situation where people are gathered together, it always involves people trying to talk to each other. In these moments, we often fall short and can't think of anything to say, or worse; we fumble through with the aim of not crashing.
However, we can soar in conversations and learn to turn small talk into big ideas.
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Leapfrog over the expected response
A way to carry on a conversation is to skip over the expected response.
Instead of:
Ron: "How was your flight?"
Carlos: "My flight was good."
Carlos could be bold and say, "I'd be more intrigued by an airline where your ticket price was ...
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961 reads
How to get beyond small talk
Ask open-ended questions that invite people to tell stories, rather than one-word answers.
Instead of "How was your day?" try, "What did you do today?" Other open-ended questions to try:
- "What's your story?"
- "What's the ...
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Practice the art of disruption
When small talk dries up, it's often due to "mirroring." In our efforts to be polite, we answer questions directly, repeat their observations, or just agree with whatever they say.
For example, one person would say, "It's a beautiful day," and we might answer, "Yes, it's a beautiful da...
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Talking To Strangers
- Starting a conversation with someone whom we don’t know can be intimidating.
- Small talk can establish a common bond between two strangers and is the first step to build a meaningful, lasting connection with the other person.
- Feeling confident around people helps in starting ...
How to talk to strangers
- If you're together in the same place, you have something in common. If we can be aware that others also feel uncomfortable, we can think about what we can do to make them feel comfortable with us.
- Ask people how they know the host or how they got ...
Connecting with coworkers
The inability to network and build work relationships will make it more difficult to advance at work.
To become more comfortable with coworkers, continually try to expand your comfort zone. Engage in small talk with people you see during the day in the lun...
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