Some people think that preparing
for conversations in advance
is "conversation cheating" and will create forced and false
conversations. To them I would ask: What is wrong
with
wanting
to make ourselves
more interesting in conversation for our friends and family?
Surely there is nothing wrong with wanting to make the
art of
conversation
sparkling and vibrant again. On well known conversationalist,
in a series of radio programmes about conversation for the
BBC, even went as far as to say that we each have a duty
to
our friends
and
family to be make conversation more interesting. And that
means, he went on, we have to prepare.
In conversation, don’t settle for obvious small talk.
When a subject is “black and white” there is
usually little room for conversation. Gray or ’blurred’ areas
are where conversation often flourishes.
As my father once said to me at a meal time: “Don’t
speak unless you can improve on silence.” I learned
in later life that this was harsh, but true. Read magazines
and newspapers actively with conversation in mind. When you
read an interesting article think about how you could present
the
article in
a conversation.
100+
conversation starters |
