Communicating with people in one form or another is an integral part of our lives. How to make it fun and enjoyable? For various reasons, not all people are able to start, develop and maintain a natural conversation. Especially if you have to talk with a stranger or someone you are in love with. What to do? There is only one way out - to learn the art of easy conversation. This article contains the most interesting topics and ideas for discussion that will help you navigate in any situation and get the most out of communicating with people.
Start a conversation
For many people, this is the most difficult part of the conversation. Not knowing what to talk about, they begin to panic internally, get embarrassed and utter phrases out of place. To avoid this, first, calm down. Communication should be fun, not painful. In addition, your interlocutor may be just as embarrassed and just as trying to come up with interesting topics for discussion.
The British say that the best opportunity to strike up a casual conversation is to discuss the weather. Sounds trite, but in some casesreally helps to overcome the feeling of embarrassment. Alternatively, you can draw the interlocutor's attention to something happening near or outside the window (unusual clothes of a passerby, a funny animal, an interesting sign).
However, no one can guarantee that another person will be interested in your remark. Therefore, it is better to act for sure. Most people are happy to share their opinions or talk about how they live. This will not only provide interesting topics for discussion, but also make communication comfortable.
If you don't know the person well, ask:
- about his attitude to any situation;
- about what is connected with his life (where he was born, studied, worked, traveled; what was remembered in those places);
- about children if your interlocutor is a parent;
- how he met the owners of the house (if you met at a party).
When talking to someone you haven't seen in a while, ask:
- what did you do, what has changed in life during this time;
- about family, children, work;
- have you seen mutual friends.
When talking to someone you see often (colleagues, fellow students, classmates), ask this person:
- how is he doing, what was new yesterday or over the weekend;
- how is the family: parents, children;
- about news related to work (study);
- about your impressions of a new movie, TV program, popular song, video or meme, breaking news, etc.
What can you talk aboutinterested in talking to most people?
Find a common theme:
- Travel. Where have you been, where do you want to go, what can you advise.
- Accompanying environment. A meal in a café, a program on TV, a song on the radio are popular topics of discussion. At the same time, you can recall interesting facts or cases from life, ask the interlocutor about his tastes, personal experience, etc.
- Hobby. Most often, people like to talk about what interests them in life. Ask questions, show interest, and mention your passions along the way.
- A topic or area of life in which your interlocutor is well versed. You can ask him questions and share your own impressions.
Good communication is impossible without the genuine interest of the interlocutors in each other and in the topic of conversation. There will be no problems between friends, but what about strangers?
Be sincere
If you want to make a good impression on your interlocutor, you need sincerity and genuine interest in what you are told about. Impeccable, but cold manners and a forced smile can hardly win over. Rampant chatter - too; who likes to listen to a twenty-minute monologue without being able to put in a word?
Make the person feel comfortable talking to you. Look for interesting topics for both of you to discuss, be interested in the person’s opinion, and talk less about yourself and only when asked. You can also alternate:a remark about your affairs - a question to the interlocutor.
A good way to win sympathy is a compliment, but made from the heart and unbanal.
Discuss current events
If you don't know how to propose an interesting topic for conversation, think about what the person you are talking to would like to discuss. Sociable people themselves will offer you a topic, all that remains is to support it with questions. With less talkative interlocutors, you can discuss current news (choosing something pleasant), new movie releases, or something related to the situation (job, food, skills, a nice piece of clothing, etc.).
Get interested in a question
What to do if you have already discussed all of the above topics? Then you can use interesting questions as topics for conversation. For example:
- Do you want to be famous?
- What would you spend a million on?
- What three things can't you live without?
- What is your biggest dream?
- Do you believe in fate (astrology, divination)?
- What was your most interesting adventure?
- What did you dream of being as a child?
- What is your ideal holiday?
- What makes you happy?
- What qualities do you like in people?
You can use these or any other interesting discussion questions to learn something new about your interlocutor, and make the conversation more unpredictable and exciting. Just don't use too many questions, it will make the person feel awkward. The ideal option is to link the question to the topic currently being discussed. Start a conversation about something, and alternate questions to the interlocutor with small portions of information about you.
Know the pitfalls
Which topics to avoid:
- illness;
- bad habits;
- diet;
- trouble;
- relationships, marriage, children (if you don't know the person's social status);
- parents (what if the interlocutor has problems in the family?);
- money matters;
- religion, politics, sex and other "slippery" topics in which you can offend a person with a random remark.
Focus on the interlocutor
If you communicate in a company, involve all participants in the conversation. Throw up interesting topics for discussion through questions and do not get carried away with long monologues.
If you see that the interlocutor is bored, change the subject and be silent for a while, giving the person the opportunity to take the initiative. You should not be afraid of pauses in a conversation, because it would be much worse to say something stupid or offend a person with a thoughtless phrase. A short silence will help you relax and think about the further course of the conversation.
If you notice that a certain topic has aroused the interest of your interlocutor, remember it so that next time you can talk about it again. If a person, on the contrary, obviously did not like something or seemed boring, take note - do not touch on this issue anymore.
Summary of conclusions
In communication, the main thing is a genuine interest in the one with whomyou are talking. In any situation, the most interesting topics for discussion boil down to the following:
- personal opinion of your interlocutor;
- the situation you are in (at a party, at work, in transport, etc.);
- travel (real or desired);
- a sphere of life that the interlocutor knows well;
- relevant and positive news;
- cinema, music, books, hobbies, sports;
- questions that encourage reasoning.
Even though communication is one of the hardest things to do in our lives, it can still be learned by being genuinely interested in what other people are talking about and wanting.
