“I went to college with Gina in Iowa. How do you know the hosts?” “I’ve always been interested in marketing strategies. What brings you to this event?” “I don’t live around here, but this neighborhood is so pretty. Do you know this area well?”
Instead of asking, “Did you have a nice weekend?” try saying, “What did you do this weekend?” Instead of asking, “I like this appetizer, do you?” try saying, “If this was your event, what would you put on the menu?” Instead of asking, “Have we met before?” try saying, “I think we met at Jake’s birthday party a few months ago, what have you been up to since then?”
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“That’s an interesting way of looking at it! I never thought of it that way before. ” “Wow, where did you learn so much about astronomy?” “I’ve always wanted to learn more about that historical period. Do you have any book recommendations?”
If a person says, “I just got back from Germany and I’m completely jet-lagged, but I’m supposed to have a meeting tomorrow morning” you have three conversation threads from which you can choose to follow up with: why they went abroad, the fact that they are jet lagged, and their job. Choose one of these threads and respond with a question or an anecdote like, “I was in Germany last year visiting family. I stayed in Munich, where did you visit?” or “Morning meetings can be hard even without jet lag! What would your boss say if you tried to reschedule it?”
“I have to go find my table, but it was really nice meeting you. Thank you for keeping me company in this line!” “I enjoyed chatting with you, and I look forward to seeing you at the next conference!” “I really enjoyed meeting you, and I will definitely look up that article you mentioned. ”
