While some people naturally excel at conversations, most of us struggle with it. So what’s the key to making discussions effortlessly engaging? According to Alison Wood Brooks, a professor at Harvard Business School, great conversations aren’t about dominating the discussion or having all the right answers. Instead, they focus on making people feel understood. “We’re all very hungry to feel understood. It’s not even that we need people to agree with us. We just need to know that what we said or did registered,” Brooks explains, as reported by CNBC. In her book, “Talk: The Science of Conversation and the Art of Being Ourselves,” Brooks breaks down what makes for a truly great discussion.
She introduces a framework called TALK, which stands for Topics, Asking, Levity, and Kindness. These four essential elements can help anyone become a better conversationalist. The first is topics. One of the biggest mistakes people make, she says, is going into conversations without thinking about what they’ll actually talk about. Just like people put thought into their outfits before an event, Brooks suggests preparing conversation topics ahead of time. Having a few ideas in mind can help prevent awkward silences and keep discussions flowing. She suggests considering questions like “What happened during our last conversation that I can call back to?” or “What’s happened in their life since we last spoke that I can or should remember to ask about?”
Source: Amplify Upworthy