Avoid awkward silences with these all new Conversation Topics!
A HUGE fear stopping people from starting conversations is the fear of running out of things to say.
I’ve given suggestions before of how to keep a conversation going, but it feels good to have something to fall back on when your social mojo goes flat.
That’s what these Conversation Topics posts are made for! Read on…
In this week’s topics: 1000’s of men run in red dresses, best parallel park ever, and diamond encrusted contact lenses.
Avoid awkward silences by having something to talk about!
Crazy concept I know…so here are some recent news (and not-so-news) stories I’ve hand-picked as a resource for you. I’ve picked them because they’re the type of topics most people could either get a laugh from or have an opinion on.
Remember, that’s the point. You want to get them talking so you can use their responses to move the conversation forward. Some good things to say after you recount the story could be, “what do you think about that?,” or “have you ever experienced something like that, before?”
How do you bring these up? Just say something like, “Oh did you hear about…” Or, “Oh, guess what I read the other day?” Your enthusiasm will cause them to be curious and want to hear more.
Below, you’ll find the story headline/link and a brief description of ways you might use it in a conversation.
This Week’s Topics
New Orleans ‘Red Dress Run’ a beer-fueled charity event
Yup, I’m going! No really. As some of you know, I live in Louisiana. My friends and I have gone to Red Dress for the past 3 years. Always a hoot! I look pretty good in a dress too. So when you bring this one up in conversation, the natural extension is to transition into crazy things you or your conversational partner have done. Well? Write ’em in the comments!
Record Parallel Parking Job
This is crazy! I’m reminded of Ace Ventura…”Like a glove!” I used to hate parallel parking, but I didn’t grow up in the city where it is always necessary. That changed when I started going out in New Orleans years ago, lol. Since parallel parking is something many of us can relate to, this story could lead to a few minutes of chat about that. It could also lead to talk about the best car you ever had, dream cars, etc.
Diamond encrusted contact lenses
Needless to say, this’ll raise some strong opinions. Would the person you’re talking to wear something like this? What do they think it would feel like? What to their opinions reveal to you about them. As a bonus challenge, give them a quick “not so” cold read. Like this… “That’s cool, y’know you seem like a down to earth person. Like you’re more about people than possessions.” OR “That’s cool, y’know you seem like you’re really into experiencing life. You figure ‘we only live once, so why not live it up!'” Those just came off the top of my head, but something like that. Say what you feel.
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So remember to keep these in mind this weekend or all next week to use in any conversational lulls you might encounter. After all, one of the secret conversation skills of the “naturals” is to have “stock” material to fall back on.
If you find these topics useful, it’d be awesome if you’d hit the Facebook “Like” button below!