3 Questions to Keep Any Conversation Moving

9:15 AM Unknown 2 Comments

Trends speaks: Whether you want to build a network or want to meet some new friends - One of the BIGGEST problems you may face is the awkward silence. How to fill it? What to say? And after that, what next? How would you keep the conversation going? Not knowing how to keep a conversation going can really harm your social life, but if you know how to keep those words flowing, you can meet, talk to, and get to know pretty much anyone you like—creating great possibilities for friendship, fun, and shared activities that you would otherwise have missed out on. So here are 3 questions that will keep ANY conversation moving:

#1;

"Must be interesting to work there, tell me what you do during the day..."

After asking what is he or she does for living, and it happens to be something vague, like "integrating/managing/corporating etc. " you should drop something like "Must be interesting to work there, tell me what you do during the day...". This question will help you understand what this person actually does for living and will show him/her that you are truly interested. It is crucial that you listen attentively when the other person is speaking instead of worrying about what you should say next. This will help you to understand what you have in common and will give you plenty of topics to talk about.

#2:

“How did you get into that industry?”
Everyone has a story of how things happened the way they did. And all you have to do is to give a person an opportunity to tell it. This what this question is for. Why this person decided to become a teacher/doctor/lawyer or whatever he/she became? Maybe there is an interesting story behind? People love to talk about themselves, especially when there is someone who listens.

#3;

"What are you into outside of work?"

This is a great way to talk about hobbies and passions, books and music. This is a question that will let you find out anything about the person you are talking to. Just show genuine interest and enthusiasm. Show esteem and respect for the other person and get the other person to speak frankly and openly.

The art of managing conversation lies in knowing when you should be directing things and when you should let the conversation take its natural course. To start with you might need to remind yourself of these questions but as you continue things will get easier. Eventually you’ll be able to carry a conversation easily without even thinking about it.