On any given day, we have dozens of interactions and conversations. In fact, one study out of England revealed that the typical person has 27 conversations a day. Lasting an average of 10 minutes each.
When you think about attending networking events to exchange business cards in a shallow conversation with interesting people. Don’t you get concerned?
But what if we change our approach to engaging new people in the conversation?
What if we stopped talking to people with the expectation of getting something out of them. Like a referral or information about their business?
What if we started conversations with the expectation of truly connecting with the person by having a true and interesting conversation. No strings attached?
The new way to interact in conversation
To make any of the interactions we have every day more meaningful and interesting. We’d need to be mindful of the very fact that each person we are facing, like us. Have their unique experiences – good or bad.
Every person we encounter has a story to tell.
Knowing this, consider how you’ll shift from dreaded questions like, “So, what do you do? to asking more in-depth questions. It will make the interaction more rewarding for the other person.
In other words, what if you stopped and thought of the story that an individual could be bringing with them?
The key to making meaningful interactions? Take your eyes off of yourself and place it on the person you’re talking to and their story. People are naturally wired to search for connection and positive affirmation; they need to be seen and heard.
They want to share their stories.
And it all starts with asking the proper questions. If you would like to kill the small talk permanently, your first order of priority is to ban questions like “What do you do?” and “Where are you from? “
Ask : “What’s your story?”
This open-ended question is sure to trigger something interesting after the person you’re talking to gets over the initial shock that you asked it. By opening up a conversation this way. You’ve allowed them to talk from their hearts and share their life’s journeys, dreams, and goals.
To sum it up, it’s highly time for us to stop talking about the weather and start asking relevant questions that would lead to insightful -and if you’re lucky enough- maybe even life-changing conversations.
So, how do YOU manage to avoid small talks ?
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