We are a social species, and multiple studies confirm this. Lack of social interaction itself is harmful, and for our purposes, lack of substantive social interaction is no better. Gaining the ability and skill to fast-forward through small talk has incredible value for the relationships in your life—old and future. However, before we jump into conversation tactics, it’s helpful to start before we actually meet and greet someone. How can we prepare beforehand to have consistently great small talk and interactions? In many ways, it turns out.

There are a couple of ways we can get ready for small talk and warm up, so to speak. The two approaches are what you might assume: physiologically, and psychologically. Psychological preparation is a matter of getting in the mood to socialize and also becoming used to initiating interaction. This can be done with “ten-second relationships,” which plunge you into the deep end if only for a moment. The idea is to start small and short, with low expectations, and build from there. You’ll eventually see that it’s easy and quite safe—you might even find it to be enjoyable, and frequently want to extend past ten seconds.

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Better Small Talk: Talk to Anyone, Avoid Awkwardness, Generate Deep Converstaions, and Make Real Friends By Patrick King

Get the audiobook on Audible at https://bit.ly/BetterSmallTalk

Show notes and/or episode transcripts are available at https://bit.ly/social-skills-shownotes

Patrick King is an internationally bestselling author and social skills coach. emotional and social intelligence. Learn more or get a free mini-book on conversation tactics at https://bit.ly/pkconsulting

For narration information visit Russell Newton at https://bit.ly/VoW-home

For production information visit Newton Media Group LLC at https://bit.ly/newtonmg

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