5 GREAT WAYS TO START A CONVERSATION

Starting a conversation is not always easy. Especially when you don´t feel comfortable with the people you are conversing with.

There could be an eerie feeling of awkwardness at the start of the interaction unless you know the five secrets...

Here are five secrets to starting a great conversation with a group of people:

1. Get everyone involved.

When starting a conversation, introducing people to each other could be necessary. That is if you don´t know each other or some of those present don´t.

Then, connect one of your group to the topic you are talking about by inviting him to contribute. Or you might simply relate one person to another with their commonalities to encourage dialogue.

2. Choose a topic.

When starting your conversation, choose a general topic. One that everyone can relate to. This will let everyone feel that they belong. This is a great way to encourage everyone to share ideas.

3. Do not drill with questions.

This should be avoided especially when asking one person only. The person may feel that he or she is facing a firing squad. Asking too many questions to a person may make him or her feel uncomfortable.

By doing so you might give that person a reason to leave the conversation. The others may also feel uncomfortable with this - they might think that they will be asked next!

4. Break the ice.

At first, there may be awkwardness among the group. You can work to break the ice. Each one of the members is just waiting for someone to do this. You can do this by cracking a joke to make them laugh. You can also start by telling a story. This may lead them to share their story, too. Then, everything will follow.

5. Ask open-ended questions.

These require a more than yes or no answer. These questions will make the flow of your conversation much smoother if done intelligently. These questions can even lead you to another topic.

Asking questions allows you to quickly test the waters to see which topics people are interested in discussing. Just be careful to ask with a pleasing tone.

It is not necessary that you use all of these tips or to use them in the order given. You can simply choose which ones are most appropriate for the situations you find yourself in. What matters is using these tips to kick off a conversation on a positive upbeat tone.

Once you start experimenting with new ways to start conversations you will notice what works best for your personality. At this point it will all be much easier and before you know it you may even enjoy meeting new people.


About the Author
Peter Murphy is a peak performance expert. He recently produced a very popular free report: 10 Simple Steps to Developing Communication Confidence. This report reveals the secret strategies all high achievers use to communicate with charm and impact. Apply now because it is available for a limited time only at: http://www-conversation.com/

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WILL SELF-ESTEEM MAKE YOU A HAPPIER PERSON?

If there is one single thing that you really need to improve your self esteem, it will have to be confidence. Self confidence can do wonders for every part of your life. But for most of us, it's easier said than done. Changes in general are tough to make, and when it comes to habits and lifestyle it is even more difficult. First, let's take a look at what confidence actually can do for your life:

-If you have confidence, you can fully take responsibility for what you do.

-If you are self confident, other people will respect you more.

-Self Confidence and integrity go hand in hand.

-With increased confidence comes an increased pride in the good things you do.

-If you are self confident, you will be more motivated to do the things you want to do.

-People that are confident can take more chances.

-When you are confident, it is easier to handle criticism from other people.

-If you really love yourself, you will be truly able to love other people.

-If you have goals you want to achieve, increased confidence will help you to take on those challenges and stimulate yourself into reaching those goals.

-All in all, you are able to fully take control of your life, and reap all the benefits.

But what does the word really mean? Some people have mistakenly called this outlook on life egotistical or arrogant, and some even say that it leads to violent behavior. This is not the case at all. These are negative attributes, and confidence is the ability to see things in a positive light. Egotism, arrogance and violent behavior are the defensive reactions of people who lack confidence in themselves.

People who are not inwardly confident, tend to mess with others' lives. They want to boost their own love of themselves by putting down others, and that's not love at all. when you have a high self belief or self confidence you will seek the challenge and stimulation that's needed to set and achieve worthwhile and demanding goals

Many people have asked the question; 'Can you be too confident'? Are there any pitfalls out there that this kind of thinking can lead to? Confidence by itself is a pure and healthy attribute, and it means the ability to fully believe in oneself and nothing can be negative about that. So if you are truly confident and really love yourself, you will never put down other people or harbor negative feelings. Thus, confidence is always a good thing. I am sure you want to be happy and then you must keep your sense of yourself in a healthy balance and believe that you can do what you want to in life. You are the driver of your car (read: life) whether you like it or not.

About the author: David Richards likes to give his readers useful self-development info and articles. You can read more at Self improvement and increased confidence.

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I MAKE US MAKE SOCIETY

LIFE HAS COUNTLESS WAYS OF TEASING YOU. A good sense of humour, therefore, is all anyone needs to survive well. Take life too seriously and stress is inevitable consequence.

Please do not interpret this to mean that irresponsibility is acceptable. Far from it. To be responsible for one's actions is the backbone of a stable, safe and prosperous community; from the family unit upwards. I do agree with conventional wisdom that the family is the smallest building block of the edifice we call society, a term we bandy about carelessly without bothering to understand its true implications. If we did we would understand why there is a need to go along with the mainstream.

The family is like a brick. A good brick properly laid can build a house to last. Take a hypothetical situation, however, of someone planning to build a house larger than what the available budget would allow for. Naturally, to get round the problem the quality of the building materials is compromised. Cheaper of everything to get more of everything to build the house that is not meant to be. And we all know that cheap means poor quality. Like all things of doubtful quality they don't last well. Material fatigue sets in quickly.

Therefore, when families are not strong and healthy the society they help make is bound to be less than optimum in all respects. In fact, one really bad family on the block can cause enough havoc if left to wreak it with impunity. When the other families on the block try to grapple with the problem that block will become less efficiently composed because energies are dissipated in what is a very avoidable situation.

But, for some reason contemporary society is beset with problems within the family. The talk among social workers is inescapably a list of so-called syndromes. The "generation gap" is short for children who give a lot of lip unnecessarily to parents and parents who are unreasonable. "Latchkey children" are very much loved children with both parents working to make ends meet and maybe a bit more. An "abused child" is one too many and the abuser ought to be locked up and the keys thrown away. "Domestic violence" is now very much a crime and thank god for that. And so on and so forth.

A social unit that is larger than the nuclear family then is dutybound to assist in alleviating these problems and ensure that social reproduction is always geared towards all that is desirable, which comes down to a simple elimination of unhealthy family practices in all its facets.

For example, the generation gap is well avoidable if parents would shed aloofness and resort to quality time bonding with their children from cradle to grave. This means that mum and dad must give of themselves unconditionally. Yes indeed, do "spare the rod" but do NOT "spoil the children" and turn them into brats. The maxim here is "responsible parenting". "Latchkey children" are meanwhile the sins of a neglectful society. It is best solved through government policies. Supervised local community halls equipped with mind and character building activities is an obvious solution.

Again, do not mistake my advocacy of the "community spirit" for licensed interference in the affairs of all and sundry.

In politics they say that every society has the government it deserves, even the totalitarian state is well deserved. Because the individual is the smallest atom in a polity, that individual has all that it deserves, the good and the bad. Suffering in silence is not a social option because there is political action. If one knows what is good for oneself one must act to ensure its sharing. If, lo and behold, you find that many others share your values then you who is bestowed with political agency in a democracy will have chalked up a victory.

The individual is then the key to society's salvation, the foundation upon which the building blocks rest. The stronger the individual, the better the building blocks, the more successful will the nation be, where success is measured by indicators of social justice: whether access to education, nutrition and healthcare, water and electricity is universal.