How to Talk to Strangers

How to talk to strangers is a logical article on why and how to meet someone new and leave them with a good impression. 1) Muster up courage 2) Find an honest opening line 3) Ask them questions

Instructions

Difficulty: Easy

Things You’ll Need:

• Yourself
• A stranger

1. Style is personal expression, and possibly the utmost form of personal expression is speech. I used to be very shy. I would never have dreamed of walking up to people in bars and parties, but now I do it all the time. The key is learning how to make a good first impression, and knowing you have nothing to lose.
2. What is the worst thing that can happen when meeting a stranger? You could make a complete fool out of yourself. So what! There are over 300 million people in the United States. What is the likelihood you will run into the same person twice if you don’t want to? The odds are definitely in your favor. So make a fool out of yourself, guilt free.
3. Now you are ready to start a conversation. What you need is an honest opening line. If you are bored and want to talk to the weirdly dressed person at the bar, walk up and say, “I’m bored and you look like you have a lot of interesting stories. Tell me about yourself.” This introductory statement lays out your intention (to hear interesting stories) and gives them the power to play along (they don’t have to tell you anything interesting if they don’t want to). I think that the honesty makes such a better impression than, “So, I like your neon shoes”. With this open statement, the other party does not know your intention, and has been given little lead into an interesting conversation without more probing.
4. Asking questions is the other key to a great impression. People love talking about themselves, which sounds bad, but it is not. What do you know better than You? So when asking people questions about themselves, they are usually more likely to enjoy the experience. You may think that this will leave you yawning, but by asking questions you gain control over which direction the conversation is headed. If your newly found neon-shoed bar friend is going on and on about his job as an accountant, ask him, “did you want to become an accountant when you were a kid?” This takes the conversation off the nuts and bolts of a boring job, and puts it on childhood and aspirations.

Tips & Warnings

• Do not talk to strangers unless you are in a comfortable space in which you know people to help you out of a bad situation.
• Never go home with a stranger
• Never go anywhere dark with a stranger