Talking with Strangers, Making Small Talk, and Finding Friends
Five techniques for bridging the social gap and engaging with others
In my last essay, I confessed an uneasiness about sitting down with strangers for a friendly talk. As I have found, this apprehension is chiefly about ignorance as to how to fill the conversational void.
Do you, too, share the anxiety and pine for ways to have conversations with others more easily?
This essay will discuss ways to liven up conversation, break awkward silences, and hold people’s attention.
Initiating the talk
Whenever we meet a stranger, there is a hesitancy about how to ease the way forward. What is there to talk about? And how can we handle our anxiety and put the other person at ease?
A stranger might be very approachable, but just because they are a “stranger,” we avoid starting a conversation.
The conversations can’t start unless either one breaks the ice. Conversational starters might include the following questions:
“What’s your name?”
“What type of work do you do?”
“How are you?”
“Which school did you go to?”
