One challenge many people have when meeting someone new is how to start a conversation. This isn’t necessarily true because a person is shy. Often people overlook the need to learn conversation skills. This happens to people every day where small talk, possibly quite innocuous, is needed as a component for social bonding in any setting. This could be a need to engage people in a work environment or not loudly ignore the only other person sitting or standing next to you at a bus stop. Isn’t the silence in this particular situation quite deafening and definitely awkward? It could be fairly easy to master the art of conversation by following several tips that can help you get the words rolling when meeting somebody new.
Learning How To Start A Conversation Builds Self-Confidence
Developing the necessary conversation skills to talk with people you do not know very well, perhaps your boss, coworker or even a client or customer will help you feel more comfortable in this situation avoiding any unnecessary awkwardness. Believe it or not, one of the most popular and easiest ways to start a conversation is talking about the weather. However, general conversation about the weather may feel just as awkward as a loud silence hovering in the room. The best way to turn the weather conversation into something interesting is to ask a question such as, “It sure as been an extremely hot summer. What kind of winter do you think we’re going to have this year?” This is known as a starter question. Since it is a question that will elicit an answer, once you get the answer move on to more personal topics. However, always give a little bit of yourself to the conversation but make sure you listen to everything everyone else is saying to you.
Conversation Can Be Fun
Conversation does not have to be painful like pulling a tooth. In fact, it can be a lot of fun even for many people who consider themselves to be shy. The secret to conversation skills is that they can be learned. This can require a lot of practice and one of the best places to conduct this practice is with someone close to you. Practice with a close family member or friend where you can build social confidence by learning to introduce personal information early in the conversation. For example, always give your name to a new person you have engaged in conversation. Do not wait for them to ask you, “What is your name?” Once the person has given their name, use it. Use the other person’s name when you asked a question, for example, “So, Tim, did you watch the London Olympics recently?” Always follow-up with a question that is specific to them such as asking what their favorite Olympic sport happens to be.
Bring The Conversation To A Personal Level
One of the skills developed when you learn how to start a conversation is to direct this conversation to a personal level. Therefore, use some of the following tips in order to develop better conversation skills that include:
– Make use of the environment in which you find yourself. Comment about the local surroundings
– Mix into the conversation small observations or comments about recent events such as a book read or a movie seen and possibly a restaurant you liked on a recent visit
– If you find your conversation partner well received when it comes to particular topic such as book reading, steer the conversation this way asking about the interesting books they have recently read
– A good conversationalist will also train themselves to keep up with current events so these can be shared when meeting new people
– Above all, be a good listener and physically gesture with a great deal of enthusiasm about what you hear
Practice will make perfect to help you develop the conversation skills you need.