Olivia's 10 TIPS TO EXCEL AT CONVERSATION
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- Put yourself in their shoes. There are few things more gratifying than feeling completely understood by the person with whom you're talking, and the best way to have them feel that way about you is to try to see everything from their perspective.
- Be really, truly interested in them. To quote Dale Carnegie, "You can make more friends in two months by becoming truly interested in other people, than you can in two years by trying to get other people interested in you."
- Listen far more than you talk. The longer you keep the spotlight on them, the more delightful they will find you.
- Smile!
- Increase your level of eye contact. This will send a drug-like hormone called Phenylethylamine gushing through your veins, which will improve communication and liking.
- Synchronize your body language with theirs: subtly adopt the same postures, head tilts, facial expressions, voice tone as they do. They will feel that you are "exactly like them."
- Adopt a "What can I do for you?" mindset. You want to be felt like a giver, not a taker.
- Be positive and enthusiastic.
- Make them feel good about themselves. Admire and praise what you are truly impressed by. To be believable, be specific in your compliments.
- Quit worrying about what you've just said, wish you hadn't said, or are going to say next. In the end, what people remember is not what was said, but rather the emotional imprint of the conversation, how it felt to be talking to you.