How To Start Up Conversation With Anyone You Meet – 11 subjects

How confident are you to start up conversation with people you do not know yet?  Do you avoid networking events because you are nervous about walking into a room where you may not know anyone?  How does that affect the growth of your business?  You are probably so confident with people you know but get a little shy with people you do not know.

Your business, whatever it is, is very much dependent on communicating with people so getting really good about approaching people and building relationships quickly is key to quickly growing your business.  Learning how to start conversations is a great skill to have.

So, I put together this list of subjects that people enjoy talking about and if you can ask them questions around these subjects, you may find that people start talking and you do not have to say much.

Hope it helps.

• Kids

Ask them how many kids they have and what they are up to. People love to talk about their kids so start them talking about that and just listen in. Being a friend to someone else means that you listen more tha you speak so get them going and listen in. Ask appropriate questions and keep listening. You may not say more than a few words in the course of the conversation but you will find that people love you for listening.

• Education

Where did you go to school? What did you study?These are great questions to find out more about the background of another person, particularly when they consider themselves well educated or even when they feel they are self-made without any help from an educational system.

• Hobbies

What kind of things do they do in their spare time? Find out what they are passionate about. Try to be very curious about people. Do not have the main idea in mind that of trying to get them on your team. Instead, build trust by talking to them about things that are important to them.

• Business/Work

People spend a great deal of their time at work so being interested in what they do is a big key to getting them to talk and feel listened to. Know that people do not get listened to in their regular life so if you speak to them and listen to them intently, they feel cared for and they want to talk more with you and they consider you a friend.

• Sports

This can be a great conversation started if you are even slightly interested in the topic of sports. Even if you are not, say that but listen anyway. You can still show interest in the person even if you are not particularly interested in the subject.

• TV Programs & Movies

There are some TV programs that eat into the mind and heart of people so being able to relate to them by listening to them talk about the programs they watch is a definite conversation starter. Also, knowing vaguely what is happening in popular TV programs gives you great ideas of things to use in your marketing. You may not be someone who watches that much TV but it helps people to relate to your content and you if you use the language they are probably already hearing in their heads. Of course, movies are the same as well. What are the blockbusters and how can you use them to start conversations?

• Travel

Most people want the freedom of travelling and seeing the world. They may not currently do it but a lot of people have grand ideas of seeing places and they may be willing to talk about their hopes and dreams when it comes to travel. Most large network marketing companies have trips to various parts of the world as you climb the compensation plan so you can drop such tidbits into conversation as you speak to people.

• Pets

When people have pets, they usually have string feelings about their pets so this is a great conversation started. OK, so I do not particularly enjoy the concept of looking after pets ( I think 3 princesses is MORE than enough!) but you could even start that conversation with me and yes, you will hear why I do not want a pet yet. Ultimately, you will get me talking!

• Music

Is there music you both like? The key as always is to look for common interests so that you can listen without getting bored but again, I must emphasize that you want to learn how to listen to people whether you are interested in the particular subject or not. You may learn something just by listening.

• Events, Associations, Clubs

Are they involved in local events or clubs? Do they attend church or another religious organization? Maybe they like to volunteer. Ask and listen in to what they say. And if there are commonalities between the two of you then again, emphasize that.

• Praise

As you listen to them, are there things that you can praise them for legitimately? Pick out things that are unique to them and praise them for it. BE someone who people feel great about hanging out with because you go out of your way to find things that you can complement them for. Learn about their special skills and abilities and any accomplishments that they may have had.

• Mirroring

Watch their mannerisms and where possible, without being creepy, mirror them.

Most of this can be used by anyone in any business and not just in business. If you want to build relationships with more people, pay attention to these things and use them to get a conversation going with anyone you do not know yet.

Become a person who is not fearful about approaching people because your business is not the top of mind, getting to know people needs to be the priority. The more people you know, the more people you connect with, the more you get out of all areas of life. People are the key to getting everything you want and though I say this, please, please, PLEASE focus more on serving the people and helping them get what hey want.

As Zig Ziglar (I think says), “You will get all you want in life, if you help enough other people get what they want.”