Book Review: Always Know What to Say

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.

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