Making Normal Conversations Better

Don’t Leave the Silly Out of the Serious, or the Serious out of the Silly

“Say more” and “care to elaborate” are magical phrases. You can also repeat what they said. “Work has been crazy lately.” “Work has been crazy lately?” That can do a lot. The question “why is that important to you,” while more intense, can get you really far, really fast, if you sense a mood of openness, especially if you learn to ask it casually.

You cannot force good conversations to happen. You have to allow and invite them

Typically, the best conversations are ones that possess some degree of spontaneity. And you can encourage spontaneity. If something floats across your mind that’s unexpected, like a conversational tangent jogs a memory or idea you didn’t foresee appearing, make it part of the conversation. “For some reason, this makes me think of [x]” is fine. Simi

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