Conversation skills with strangers was today’s topic on Afternoons with Josh Szeps on ABC702. It was so much fun.

Josh decided to get two listeners who were strangers to each other to have a conversation.  I was to offer suggestions and make comments on how well they did.

Finding Common Ground
It went really well.  I commented that an important factor in conversation skills is to find a common ground with the other person as soon as possible.  

Josh paired up 3 couples and the conversation skills they used were very good.

Conversation Starters
Josh was also very interested in what people say to get a conversation started.  One lady said that she would go up to someone and say she was drinking pink champagne and ask the other person what he was drinking because the colour of his drink looked good.

In a previous session when I was away sick, Josh spent the whole time asking people to ring in with their favourite introductory line.  One lady said that she goes up to people and says that she is writing a book. Another lady said that she goes up to people and asks them what their favourite spider is. Apparently this was voted the favourite line by the listeners and Josh.

I am more conservative and will start a conversation making a comment about the weather.  Josh found that boring but I guess an etiquette teacher is inherently boring.

Talking to Strangers
I hope the audience found the session fun and also informative.  If nothing else, maybe it got people thinking about topics they can talk to strangers about. Also topics that are not appropriate. There are often times when we meet new people at a party or at a dinner. Therefore it is important to be confident enough to start a conversation with a person you have never met before.