[A] Just say it
[B] Be present
[C] Pay a unique compliment
[D] Name, places, things
[E] Find the “me too”s
[F] Skip the small talk
[G] Ask for an opinion
Five ways to make conversation with anyone
Conversations are links, which means when you have a conversation with a new person a link gets formed and every conversation you have after that moment will strengthen the link.
You meet new people every day: the grocery worker, the cab driver, new people at work or the security guard at the door. Simply starting a conversation with them will form a link.
Here are five simple ways that you can make the first move and start a conversation with strangers.
Suppose you are in a room with someone you don’t know and something within you says “I want to talk with this person”—this is something that mostly happens with all of us. You wanted to say something—the first word—but it just won’t come out, it feels like it is stuck somewhere. I know the feeling and here is my advice: just get it out.
Just think: what is the worst that could happen? They won’t talk with you? Well, they are not talking with you now!
I truly believe that once you get that first word out everything else will just flow. So keep it simple: “Hi”, “Hey” or “Hello”—do the best you can to gather all of the enthusiasm and energy you can, put on a big smile and say “Hi”.
It’s a problem all of us face; you have limited time with the person that you want to talk with and you want to make this talk memorable.
Honestly, if we got stuck in the rut of “hi”, “hello”, “how are you?” and “what’s going on?”, you will fail to give the initial jolt to the conversation that can make it so memorable.
So don’t be afraid to ask more personal questions. Trust me, you’ll be surprised to see how much people are willing to share if you just ask.
When you meet a person for the first time, make an effort to find the things which you and that person have in common so that you can build the conversation from that point. When you start conversation from there and then move outwards, you’ll find all of a sudden that the conversation becomes a lot easier.
Imagine you are pouring your heart out to someone and they are just busy on their phone, and if you ask for their attention you get the response “I can multitask”.
So when someone tries to communicate with you, just be in that communication wholeheartedly. Make eye contact. Trust me, eye contact is where all the magic happens. When you make eye contact, you can feel the conversation.
You all came into a conversation where you first met the person, but after some time you may have met again and have forgotten their name. Isn’t that awkward!
So, remember the little details of the people you met or you talked with; perhaps the places they have been to, the places they want to go, the things they like, the things they hate—whatever you talk about.
When you remember such things you can automatically become investor in their wellbeing. So they feel a responsibility to you to keep that relationship going.
That’s it. Five amazing ways that you can make conversation with almost anyone. Every person is a really good book to read, or to have a conversation with!
