Conversation is simple and easy.
We share things with others, and others share things with us. It doesn’t always work out this simply, of course, but this is who we are at our cores. Humans are social creatures; we share.
Verbal communication played a significant role in all your biggest life achievements. The sexiest guy or girl you've dated. The most money you ever made. The happiest you've ever been. Didn’t all of these come, in whole or in part, from some amount of conversation?
Who are your best friends? Your closest relatives? And how did they become so close and important to you? From conversation!
So, knowing how important conversation is, why do so many of us struggle with it?
We think too damn much.
About?
What the other person might think of us.
How we might sound stupid.
If this is a dumb question.
Possibly being turned down for something.
The fear of the unknown.
Eliminate these fears, and conversation is easy. These fears are mostly based in a lack of knowledge. A lack of knowledge in how to start a conversation and how to keep conversation flowing. But you picked up this book. So that fear will be gone very soon.
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Verbal communication is the skill which keeps humans at the top of the food chain. Without it, we would be prey to the many bigger, stronger and faster animals we see on National Geographic.
The most successful people we know (of) are the best communicators.
They’re the people who can best get their point across. The ones who are good at persuasion. People can make people feel things - happiness, anger, sadness, motivation. The best communicators make their every communication feel like a personal conversation with you.
True or not true?
Since you agree, would you also agree that an improvement in your conversational skills would boost your success in life?
Good. You have the perfect tool for doing so.
This book shares 25 great conversation starters guaranteed to get people talking.
These questions will make your conversation companion think and talk more. These are not the usual stereotypical, boring questions bad conversationalists use all the time, such as Where are you from? Or, What do you do? These are pattern-interrupting ways to get a person deep in thought and talking.
Why is this important?
Questions that make people think get their attention. Attention and time are the most valuable currencies we deal in.
The more you can talk with someone, the better you can learn how to help him or her. Helping people creates value, and we will pay high prices for value.
Unique, thought-provoking conversation makes people remember you. I doubt you want to be a forgotten person.
These conversation starters facilitate further conversation, which you can leverage to get your point across, build rapport, learn about others, win friends and influence people.
To this point, what about this book has you most excited? Why is that?
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Each chapter is headed with the conversation starter itself, and then a simple background on the value of the question, written in italics.
Then I’ll give more context into what results to expect from question and what to listen for.
I’ll share a few Follow Up questions to use, based on the answers you get. It’s important you learn to weave the follow-ups into conversation, and not sound like an interviewer or news reporter with a memorized script you’re reciting.
At the end of each chapter you’ll get a Best Used tip of best times to employ each question and why.
Warning: Do not use these conversation starters as a memorized, systematic way of talking to people. Learn them all and learn to use them together and independently as needed. The more you go over each, you will develop a feel for when and how to use each.
Let’s get started and not waste time. There are people to meet and connections to make.
