Are your conversations boring with awkward silences? Conversation is more than blathering on about the mundane trivialities of life. For conversation to be fruitful and worth the time of both you and the other person, it needs to be captivating, to be interesting. There should be a "wow!" factor.
Pedestrian conversations are boring, often tedious, and leave a poor impression with your conversation partner. But fear not, here are five sure fire topics to talk about to keep things interesting.
SPORTS - Many people are sports fans, and chances are your conversation partner is as well. Even if the other person isn't a sports fan, chances are they have a strong opinion about NOT being a fan, and that can easily be an interesting conversation in its own right.
CURRENT EVENTS - Try to find something in the news, some captivating event that is talked about in all of the newspapers and has all of the talking heads chattering. Try to steer clear of politics or religion unless you know the other person well. Always try to keep these kinds of conversations rolling along not through terse statements of fact, but through asking questions. Having good conversation skills means you're curious and open.
LOCAL EVENTS - One of the easiest things to discuss with other people is events and happenings occurring in your mutual back yard. This may require a little preparation, but try to acquaint yourself any swap meets, farmers' markets, fairs or festivals happening in your city and use this in conversation. Your conversation partner will likely have heard of other, similar events of interest to you as well.
FRIENDS, FAMILY, COLLEAGUES AND ACQUAINTANCES - If you know the other person through business or social networks it is always a great conversation topic to discuss people and events that you both know, and this is an excellent way to catch up with things you might not have yet heard.
MUSIC - Everyone loves music of some type. Everyone. While some may be more into it than others, remember the human brain is hardwired to enjoy music making it an interesting topic to talk about. The only difference between two people's musical tastes is simply a matter of preference.
A great conversation can easily be two people sharing what the types of music they do and do not enjoy. Such discussions not only help forge connections between you and your conversation partner, they may lead to you new and as-yet-undiscovered genres and artists you might like.
Continue to learn effective social skills that wins you friends by developing effective conversation skills.