I don't really know where I am going with this challenge so it will probably be a bit of a work in progress (I welcome all suggestions).
A week or so ago I was reading this fabulous blog and came across a post where the blogger talks about meeting Josh Groban and describes him as "being a charming conversationalist, an engaging energy, and an overall fantastic person." When I read this my first though was, of course, how cool that she met Josh Groban. My second thought, though, was how cool would it be to be described as a charming conversationalist and an engaging energy. I'm pretty sure I can safely say that I am neither one of these things, but I would like to be so this week I want to work on being a charming conversationalist. Not knowing where to start, though, I did a google search on becoming a good conversationalist and found these basic tips:
1. Go to the library once a week and read from a variety of general interest magazines.
2. If you are going to delve into such topics as religion, politics, and money you must be open minded to what others say--this is not to say that you can't argue but that arguing must be done in good humor and that you must actually consider the opinions of others as valid and not end the conversation by slapping them or throwing your drink on them.
3. Practise--by yourself (as in practise a few opening lines you could use to get into a conversation and practise a few lines to get out of an uncomfortable conversation--the getting in lines should be open ended questions that can't be answered with a yes or a no. This is an example (that I won't be using for obvious reasons): rather than asking if a person likes the weather we are having you should ask how they feel about the weather we are having.) and with others.
The hard thing with this challenge is that there really are no real steps that I can create other than 1. go to the library and 2. practise. That said, I suppose that I will spend 1 night at the library this week perusing some general interest magazines and spend some concerted time each day practising. Now, I realize this is unlikely to make me a charming conversationalist by the end of the week, but hopefully it will be a start. So here's to becoming more like Josh Groban.
2 comments:
That's actually a very charming picture of him.
Yeah, I could use a little help in that area.
sooo... my little brother, Jake, says that whenever he is on a date and the conversation lulls a bit and becomes uncomfortable, he always says, "I like bread, do you like bread?" busts me up everytime!
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