Many people who know me would be shocked to hear that I really struggle with walking up to a stranger to start a conversation. I would be much more comfortable talking to a group of 30,000 people in an arena than to walk up to a perfect stranger to strike up a conversation. However, I am very grateful that my job as a middle and high school principal requires me to do that on a regular basis. I enjoy being stretched in this area. I saw Always Know What to Say by Peter Murphy available for free in the Amazon Kindle Store. After reading the book, I can definitely say it was priced correctly. That isn’t a slam on the book, just a reminder that there are very few new ideas out there.
I’ve copied some things that I highlighted while reading. I hope this will inspire you to be more confident in conversation. It definitely gave me some things to think about.
- Know that your happiness does not depend on how someone else responds.
- What has been the most life-changing experience you’ve ever had?
- What is the most spontaneous thing you’ve ever done?
- What dream would you most like to make a reality?
- From which person have you learned most in your life?
- You need questions to keep a conversation going. Questions help to progress the conversation and allow you to find out more about someone; they make it possible to gain understanding.
- Good questions follow on from the topic being discussed and allow a person to give a simple answer based on their personal opinion, rather than requiring them to possess any particular knowledge.
- Do you have good listening skills?
- Avoid any form of a “me” statement, within those first few moments of an interaction because they can send the message that the other person is not the center of your interests.