In class last week, Mr. O’Connor posed a question about how conversations start and made some comments on conversation “etiquette”. I have actually thought about it a lot how conversations really start and how they differ from person to person. When I am in a long conversation I think about it after how we got to the last part of the conversation. It is so interesting how the mind works and what words or sentences trigger your brain to something else that is sometimes relevant and sometimes completely random.
There are those certain people your friendly with but are exactly “friends” per say and the only type of conversations you have is small talk. Those are the worst because not only is it awkward during the conversation but then to leave it even worse. The conversations you have with people you have the most common ground with usually tend to be the most successful and longest if you have the time.
When I don’t have something that I need to ask or tell a person when we start to have a conversation I think of the last conversation we had or something I know we have talked about before and say something about it then start from there. Conversations can get really rough really fast if certain topics are brought up. Transitions are Mr. O’Connor’s specialty but most people have problems with them, in writing and in conversations. If certain topics just don’t flow together they need to have something in between to connect them somehow. It is hard to do this on the spot sometimes or even if you have time.
How do your conversations differ from person to person? Do you like to start the conversations or end them? Do you have any tips for people who have trouble conversing with people in person?
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2 comments:
I totally agree with your post. Sometimes I find it really difficult finding ways to carry on a conversation with someone you are not exactly friends with. I think it is really hard to connect two totally different topics with a trasition. I think that the only way to get better at this is to practice it. We practice this skill in class, such as with our Perilous Project Presentations. And Mr. O'Connor is the master of the transition! I think we can learn from him along with our own experiences.
You know, speaking of transitions, Kelly...
This is a thoughtful post. I'm glad you are thinking about language carefully. The standard advice is to get other people talking about themselves (most people's favorite topic!). It might be interesting to imagine a great conversation. What balance did it have? How many people? Who initiated/
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