Common Ways To Strrike-up A Conversation

Here are a few more notes for those of you who want to reduce your fear (or shyness) of approaching prospects or striking up a conversation in a social setting.

I made a spectacle of myself at the Halloween party last night. I was having a great time until the alcohol caught up with me. I was staggering and falling all over the place. I never actually fell down but I had a hard time standing up. My head was spinning so bad that, finally, I just had to sit down. And, That was a big mistake... Everything started spinning faster then. I'm ashamed to say it but I had to "earl" (throw-up) a few times. I was dizzy and sick as dog. That "monkey" jumped on my back and couldn't shake him off. Luckily, no one saw me. They all thought I was just too drunk to stand.

I dressed as a "rocker" with long hair. I was sharp and sexy as hell. Those women were really checking me out - hard. Hell, I was a damn good time until that vodka started kickin' my ass.

I had only one social faux pas (besides getting too drunk to stand) and that was staring at one of co-workers who I would've never imagined would dress-up as a woman. He was as ugly as sin, but it was a great costume. I have to give him his props.

Anyway...

It was a very sociable event and we all had a wonderful time.

Everybody was talking, mixing, and mingling (including me until I got drunk) and the most common conversation starters were:

"I love your costume."
"What are you?"
"Did you see so-and-so's costume?"
"What are you drinking?"
"Did you try the pasta? It's really good."
"So-and-so is here."
"How do you know so-and-so? Do you two work at the same place?"

etc.

These are common ice-breakers to get someone's attention and start-up a conversation.

Compliments
Bulletins
General Questions
Inquiries
etc.

You don't have to think hard about this stuff or feel shy about it. Just BE CURIOUS. Feel free to talk about yourself sometimes. Pass along information. Don't be shy about giving someone a compliment who deserves it. And, don't forget to praise people when they deserve it. These are EASY ice-breakers to get a conversation going and to get to know someone better. But, just think about small-talk. small-talk. small-talk.

Don't think too far ahead or your brain will trip over your tongue.

You already know what you want anyway, right?

You either want to socialize, make the person laugh, get the person to agree to something, complain, find someone who shares your opinion about a certain thing, get some information, or get to know this person better. So why think about it???

Just open-up the conversation with some small-talk using an ice-breaker.

Here are a few more:

"Did you hear about...?"
"I can't believe what happened at ---- today."
"I like your hair. It's cute."
"I'm never going to (that store) again!"
"Did you see the price of -----? What a rip-off!"
"Did I tell you what happened at work today?"
"You look nice. Is that what you wore to work today? What kind of work do you do?"
"Is that chicken salad good? Where did you get it? Was it expensive?"
"Did you hear about what happened to...?"
"Who won the football game today? Who's your team?"
"It seems like every time I come here, they have something new."
"The -----s are gorgeous aren't they?"

There are millions and millions of ice-breakers and conversation starters that you can use. Most of the time, it's all a matter of timing and circumstances.

Sometimes, you can start a conversation with a flirtatious remark or compliment.

Sometimes, with a joke or a quip.

Sometimes with words of caution.

It'll be easy for you once you start practicing.

The best way to improve is to practice using ice-breakers often. The more you use them, the more you will be comfortable about striking up a conversation. And, the better you will be at getting people's attention - including prospects.

The second best way is to listen to people when they FIRST strike-up a conversation with small-talk. If you do this, you will learn a multitude ways to start-up a conversation with anybody.

The third best way is too pay attention to what's going on IN and AROUND your life. Pay attention to the news. Stay in the know about what's going on with the people you associate with. Be aware of what's going on at work. Be aware of what's going on in your community and in the World. When you know what's going, you have so much information share with others and people love information.

Another great way to improve your skills in ice-breakers and small-talk is to also improve your memory. A good memory will help you remember ice-breakers. It will also help you tell better stories because you will be able to remember facts and good jokes that you've heard. And, this will help the people that you're talking to experience what you have to say better.

And, don't forget your body language, facial expressions, and delivery! You can really get people to engage when they are able to "read" your enthusiasm through the tone of your voice or see it in your face and body language.

And, there are other ways too but I don't want to overload this post because really it's just supposed to be notes.

The main thing to remember is to pay attention, learn, and interact. Keep it up, and you'll be yappin' away, having fun, and feeling good about it in no time.