Once you have a conversation started keeping it going is
sometimes the hardest part. Good conversation can sometimes be
hard to come by. People have a way of turning a great start into
a horrible exchange that leaves everyone wanting to run away.
Learning a little bit about what to avoid and how to bring
everyone into a good conversation can help you to avoid horrible
situations.
The following guidelines will outline some things you should and
should not do during a conversation. Using these guidelines
throughout your conversations you will find that you tend to
have more good conversation than bad.
Read over these guidelines and start putting them to use as you
go about your day and converse with others.
1. The major point of good conversation is knowing what to say
and what not to say.
This can mean both topics of conversation, but also the context.
For example a conversation you would have with your best friend
may not be the type of conversation you have with the cashier at
the grocery store.
You should know what topics are okay to say to certain people.
Knowing this will help you to avoid making someone uncomfortable.
2. Communicate with confidence.
You should not be second guessing yourself throughout the whole
conversation. The best way to be confident is to stick to
talking about topics you know something about.
When this is not possible because someone else brought up a
topic you know nothing about then you can ask questions and take
an interest. That way you will be able to continue in the
conversation.
Do not try to talk about something you know nothing about. This
just makes you look like a know it all who really knows nothing
and shoots your creditability down.
3. Take time to listen.
Practice those listening skills you learned in grade school. Try
not to take over the conversation. If you are the only one
talking then you need to try to draw others into the
conversation by asking them questions or introducing a topic you
can all talk about.
If you always talk and never listen then you not be able to
connect with others or learn about them. In other words you will
not make friends because you will come off as only caring about
yourself.
4. There are some topics you probably should never bring up
unless you want a debate.
Most often people avoid topics like religion and politics. They
just have too much room for disagreement. You can make people
feel uncomfortable and even make enemies by bringing these
things up.
Other topics like sex or health problems may just be in poor
taste, depending on the company. Use your common sense and avoid
topics that can cause problems or make others uneasy.
As soon as you are completely comfortable implementing these to
do's and not to do's in your daily conversation you will
discover that people will love talking with you and you may end
up being more popular than ever.
Good conversation is hard to come by and once people know you
are a good conversationalist then you will become the person to
talk to.
About the author:
Peter Murphy is a peak performance expert. He recently produced
a very popular free report: 10 Simple Steps to Developing
Communication Confidence. Apply now because it is available only
at:
conversation starters
Written by: Peter Murphy
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