English with Kirsty – episode 15
Keeping conversations going and avoiding awkward silences 3
In this episode I conclude my series that looks at strategies for making general conversations less stressful and more enjoyable.
You can listen to episode 15 here:
7. Bring other people into the conversation
Asking other people what they think can be a way to involve others while at the same time giving the conversation a new perspective.
Introducing people who haven’t met is also good because it gets people talking and they may also do the same for you.
8. Do some research
If you know whom you are likely to meet or the topics that may be discussed, do some research beforehand.
9. Don’t fill gaps in the conversation with information about yourself
You don’t want the conversation to fizzle out, but it’s good to leave room for other people to speak as well.
Similarly, it’s better not to ask a lot of questions at once or jump from subject to subject before the other person has hat time to order their thoughts.
10. Be proactive and move on before the conversation fizzles out
If you tell the other person that
it’s been good talking to them but you need to catch up with some other people now
you’re going to get some food/something to drink
you’ll be in touch with them again soon (if this is true!)
you can end the conversation on a positive note, rather than trying to deal with an embarrassing silence. This also prevents you from being trapped with someone in whose company you don’t want to spend the rest of the event.
Find out more
If you would like to receive the 10 tips as a PDF handout, you can request it using the contact form.
There are two more parts to this series. Here are the links to part one and part two.
I love to hear from my listeners! If you have any comments or questions, do get in touch using my contact form.
English with Kirsty News is sent out once a month and it contains articles and other information for learners of English as well as the latest news from English with Kirsty.
Subscribe to the English with Kirsty podcast
You can subscribe to the podcast on
iTunes
or Player FM.
The podcast’s RSS feed is:
http://englishwithkirsty.podomatic.com/rss2.xml
“H2> Would you like to support the podcast?
English with Kirsty has a Patreon page , where you can donate 1, 3 or 5 dollars a month to support the show. I don’t have an expensive podcast set-up, but there are running costs associated with the show, so if you’d like to support it, that would be great.
I also provide additional content for my patreons as a “thank you” – further details are on the page.