Five Strategies For Maintaining A Good Conversation

Dialogue is the most important foundation for our relationships. It is the way in which we come into contact with our society and our culture. Therefore, it is important to know how to maintain a good conversation to build, preserve and enrich your circle of acquaintances.

In this regard, the best news is that all of these social skills can be improved with the right technique and practice. However, this is an art that we can only learn through practice.

The most important thing about being able to maintain a good conversation is to have an open attitude towards the other person. You can learn from people all over the world. You can have a nice exchange with anyone if you approach them properly. With that said, there are some guidelines that help make the dialogue as good as possible.

1. Active listening is important when you want to maintain a good conversation

Maintaining a good conversation is something that directly depends on the ability to listen. Knowing how to listen to another person does not mean that we increase the number of sounds our ears can understand. Good listening is active and participatory.

Active listening prevents the dialogue from becoming a monologue. When only one of the two participants is talking, there is no conversation. Yes, there will always be a certain level of asymmetry. Usually one person talks more and the other listens more. This is because it is very difficult to achieve absolute balance. But the closer we get, the better the dialogue.

Pauses are important for maintaining a good conversation

Silence always manages to slip into a conversation. Some people are deeply disturbed by this. However, it is not really that negative because breaks are also necessary. But when the silence becomes too long and you do not want to end the conversation, you need to help keep it alive.

How do you do it? The best way is to use transitional phrases. These are confirmations that allow the dialogue to restart. You can start talking about a previous topic or a new one. You can use expressions like: “as you said before…” or “let’s change topic, I would like to know what you think…”. You can also say something like “I have no comment on that, but…”. These are all phrases that will help you put thoughts together and maintain a good and lively conversation.

3. Share information

Sharing information has to do with answering the other person’s questions to a sufficient degree. If we answer laconic or limit ourselves to single words, we dampen the other’s desire to nurture and maintain a good conversation.

If we answer the other person’s questions with more relevant information than what is requested, we facilitate dialogue. It also shows openness and a desire to express what we think, feel or believe. This facilitates the interaction. This does not mean that we should always give comprehensive answers, but that we must provide more information to those who ask us about it.

4. Transparency is one of the keys to maintaining a good conversation

People are more likely to trust people who trust them, just as we tend to be more open to those who adopt similar attitudes with us. If you want a conversation to be more personal, we recommend that you share personal information. This means that you should reveal aspects of yourself that are more private in nature.

Therefore, if we spontaneously start talking about these personal things, the other person will probably feel motivated to share. All this leads to a successful transition from a fact-oriented and formal conversation to a more personal one.

5. Questions are the driving force of the conversation

Questions help conversations move forward. Not only do they allow us to explore and get to know the other person better, but they are also indispensable keys to maintaining a good conversation. Of course, you must have enough underlying needs to be able to choose the questions you are going to ask the other person. The goal is not to make them feel interrogated.

If you do not know a person well, it is best to ask questions that start at a superficial level and then move on to a more personal one. This way, you give them time to start trusting you and you avoid creating an unpleasant atmosphere.

Cultivating the art of being able to have a good conversation is worth the effort. It not only leads to entertaining situations, but it is also therapeutic. It allows you to express yourself, listen and learn from others. It also enriches your life and spices up the relationships you have with the outside world.