How can I improve my conversational speech?
Communication is what drives our world. It is also one of the most important skills to master. Whether you want to be more relaxed with other people or want to better communicate your ideas at work, here are some tips to help you achieve that.
Watch your body language. Tell your interlocutor that you are glad to see him and cross your arms over your chest? Or do you say that you are listening to him attentively, and you bury yourself on the phone? If this is about you, then you should definitely do your body language. Our gestures influence conversation as much, if not more so than our words. Learn to control your gestures.
Get rid of word parasites. "Eee", "mmm" are not the best words to carry on a conversation. You try to get rid of awkward pauses with their help, but only make it worse. Start by tracking these words to get rid of them once and for all. These pauses are much less noticeable than you think.
Prepare several topics for conversation.
Situations when you need to exchange a few words with a person happen often. And it's good if you are naturally sociable and do not suffer from isolation. If it's hard to come up with a topic for conversation, use the following conversation topics:
A family. Profession. Entertainment, hobbies. Dreams. These themes make up the FORD method (family, occupation, recreation, dreams). Ask the other person about this, and your little conversation will turn into an interesting conversation.
Don't be afraid to ask questions. Ask the interlocutor about his plans for the summer, about work, about children. Finally, put yourself in his shoes and think about what question you would like to hear. Have you come up with it? Feel free to ask.
Do not be distracted. We know how much you love your smartphone, but do not let your interlocutor find out about it. It seems to me that there is nothing worse when, during your story, the interlocutor is buried in a smartphone. Once again put yourself in the place of the interlocutor and understand that the smartphone will wait.