strangers talk

Thus, it is up to us to initiate conversation. However, again this naturally begs the question, "How?" The answer is rather simple. At least, there is no big secret or no magic formula. Gabbing with someone new is all a matter of making small talk. Debra Fine, author of The Fine Art of Small Talk, says that "small talk has a bad rap as the lowly stepchild of real conversation." This is so true. Every great conversation we have ever had - especially with strangers - starts and ends with chit-chat about matters as trivial as the weather or the game.

A perfect starting point is committing strangers talk to saying "hello" to everyone we come across. Eventually, we will encounter someone willing to engage in idle banter.

From here we only need to jump in with a nifty little comment-question combo. "That is a nice tie; where'd you get it?" That might be the first step in establishing rapport. Or just maybe we are better suited with something like, "This is a great event; are they all this good?" It is possible that a blaze of business will be sparked by something like, "Lots of people here; I wonder who are the real players?"