11 Tips to Help Improve the Quality of Your Conversations
For 90 days, I forced myself to talk to at least one stranger a day.
After being extremely shy and afraid of talking to strangers for my entire life, I hit a breaking point in college and gave myself a challenge: For 90 days, I forced myself to talk to at least one stranger every day.
90 days later, I beat my fears and reinvented my life.
Since then, I spent years, practicing, learning, and refining what really works and what doesn’t — now, I can start a conversation with anyone, any time, and it has opened up so many doors. In this article, I’ll explain the 11 tips that helped me the most. And believe me: If I could do it, so can you.
1. Use the easiest way to improve your skills.
People often asked me, “How do you talk to people you don’t know?” But they’re skipping the easiest way to improve. Instead of talking with complete strangers — which can be stressful — talk with people who are all already paid to talk to you.
When I was starting out, I took almost every opportunity to practice my skills without worrying about a bad response. I talked to baristas, waiters and waitresses, retail clerks, and more.
