M1E2: How to Have First Time Conversations Without Much Context

The Reliants Project

In this episode, Georgie and I focus on first-time conversations when there’s very little context. These types of chats can happen when you’re standing in line somewhere or have been sent to a virtual breakout room at a conference. We call them forming conversations because there’s an opportunity to form a connection with the other person, but sometimes it’s hard to know where to start. With each example, try not to focus on the content on the conversation. Instead, notice what types of questions we ask, how we answer them, and how we connect one topic to another. We hope you identify things that you want to try next time you’re in the same situation.

Georgie and I try out 3 different ways of kickstarting the conversation:

• First, we explore how you can take a simple, standard question like “How are you?” and use it as a springboard to a more interesting discussion
• Second, we try asking a question specific to the moment in order to illicit a non-standard response and give us insight into the other persons interests or values
• Third, we start with a statement to invite them into a dialog more subtly
• After each example, we talk about what we noticed in the conversation and how that influenced the direction and what we surfaced.
• We highlight effective strategies that you can use when you’re speaking to someone for the first time.
• We talk about specific ways to end the conversation and how to ask for the opportunity to connect again