The BIGG Successs Show
6 Great Ways to Keep a Conversation Going
How to keep the conversation going once its started! Find written summary of today's show at BIGGSUCCESS.COM.
- Welcome to The Big Success Show. Today, we'll share six great ways to keep a conversation going. - The Big Success Show with George and Mary Lynn. - You know, I think the hardest part, obviously, of a conversation, you meet someone new, it's just getting started, right? And on the internet, you can find all kinds of ways of doing that, of suggestions for how to make that happen. But what we found interesting was, there's not much information about how to keep a conversation going. - Exactly. I mean, you get it started. - Right. - Maybe you're talking about the weather, but there's only so far you can go and talking about the weather before the conversation comes to one of those awkward, silent moments, you know? So what do you do? How do you keep it going? - Well, and you gave a good example, Mary Lynn, the weather is a much maligned, I think, conversation starter. You know, when days are pretty extreme, I find the weather a great conversation starter. - Yeah, yeah, that's, I mean, it's not bad, but you've just got it, how do you get onto the next subject? - Exactly. Unless you're Noah's ark and you're talking about the weather. (laughing) - That's right. But George, one of the things I admire about you is how you know a lot, you know, a little bit, you don't know a lot. - Oh, don't I, thank you, Mary Lynn. - You know, a little bit about a lot of things. And so I just, I'm amazed by you, 'cause you can keep a conversation going with just about anybody. - You know, what I really wanna keep this conversation going about Mary Lynn is you said one of the things, I like the plural to that. So I think we should just talk about that for a while. More of the things you admire about me. - Okay, ego, conversation over. - I have definitely met people where it's really tough to keep the conversation going. You know, it seems like people who are maybe extremely shy, they're tough to talk to. And then you run into those people where you just don't click, there's just not, you know, there's just not any commonality. And what I do is I just move on typically. - Yeah, you can only do so much, right? - That's right. And you know, the thing I'll say though, Mary Lynn, is I've never had a problem carrying on and keeping a conversation going with you. - Aw, that's so sweet. And George, I've never had a hard time keeping a conversation going on with you. - I guess where do we go from there? - I guess it's over now. - Right. - Well, one of the things that can really help keep a conversation going is a good question. And that's really how you get to know people. - Well, and there's a fine line between, you know, just a general question and getting too personally. You have to be careful not to cross that line, particularly when you're first getting to know someone. - Yeah, and you want to keep it light-hearted. So you don't want to ask super serious questions. - And don't fire them off in rapid form, right? So that they feel like they're being interrogated. - Or interviewed. - Yes. - So coming up, we're going to share some great conversation continuous that we've used. Today, we're talking about ways to keep a conversation going. And we're going to share six ways that we do it. - Now, I love to read books, and boy, who doesn't? There are so many people who enjoy reading books. And if it's not books, maybe it's movies or TV shows. But I found that asking someone that I've just met, hey, tell me about a great book that you've just read or that you would recommend that tends to keep the conversation going that opens up the door for more questions. - All right, the second way to keep a conversation going is include some interesting tidbits. Maybe even call this trivia. Now, don't be cliff-claving about it, right? - He's always spouting off stuff that you don't even think he knows what he's talking about. - That's right. Well, I'll give you an example, Marilyn. I just saw a little bit of information. And it said that 80% of the men would marry the same woman all over again, if given the choice. Now, let me ask you a question. Do you think the percentage of women who said they'd marry the same man all over again was higher than that or lower? - I'd say higher. - Higher, now why? - Because women are very confident in the decisions that they make, so yeah, they do it again. - I think you're just biased because you married me. - Well, back to you again. - If you come on, actually it turns out it's lower. - Really? - Only 50% of the women said they'd marry the same man all over again. - All those socks on the floor and everything, the honeymoon's over. - That's right. But there's a great way to keep the conversation going, right? - Yeah, that's very interesting. Another way to keep a conversation going, you celebrity gossip or this question works. If you could trade places with a celebrity, who would it be and why? So George? - Britney Spears. - Britney? - Yeah. - Yeah. - Why is that? - I wouldn't have to wear panties. (laughing) - Well, there you go. You've proven that it can get the conversation going. Somebody like you, a goofball, is gonna let their humor come through, those kinds of things, so. - Okay, there you go. Number four, this is sort of a variation, but ask them if you could do college all over again. Would you take the same program or would there be a different degree you would pursue? That's kind of an interesting conversation continue, isn't it? - Yes, that's a very intellectual one. That's good. And Chris Brogan, a friend of ours, we do have a link to his blog on our site today at bigsuccess.com. But I love this question that he'll throw out to people that he meets. What are you working on that's fun? So instead of saying, hey, what do you do? - Yeah, the old boring, what do you do, right? - Yeah, what are you working on that's fun and it allows you to tap into this other person's passion. - And I have to say, ever since I heard Chris say that, it's like, that's the question I ask people. I never ask, what do you do? - Well, it's such a great positive question. - It is, and it gets people kind of, it gets their energy flowing, right? And the final one, and we do this one a lot, Mary Lynn, is to kind of create a game. And one of the things we do is, we have a word of the night when we're out with friends, we probably almost do this to access, right? We have a word of the night or a phrase of the day. And especially if the phrase of the word has maybe a double meaning, it's even more fun. And so you just try to work that into the conversation as many times and as many ways as you can. It's a blast. - What's our word for the show? - A panties. - Yes. - There you go. Try to work that in throughout the day, okay? You can get a written summary of today's show on our site at bigsuccess.com. That's big with two Gs. - And next time we ask, if you rent, are you really just throwing money away? - That ought to be a good conversation. Until then, here's to your big success. - The Big Success Show at B-I-G-G Success.com. (crowd cheering) [BLANK_AUDIO]