How To Make New Friends With Communication Strategies
By Rachel F Hill
While some people take their ability to use communication strategies to make new friends lightly, there are other people on the planet who are unable to boast such skills. Communication is a skill set that most people take for granted. Most of us can walk into an interview, meeting, a party and even a date and be confident that we can hold our own with an armoury of conversation starters. However, there are many people who do not enjoy such self-assurance. Even so, making friends through�the art of conversation�is something that is at the core of civilization. This is precisely why shy people are so low in confidence or, from another perspective, why people low in confidence are so shy.
Even though some people have a natural knack for�communication strategies�and seem to employ them without even realizing it, there are many people who are unable to do the same. If you are one such person then you should stop worrying because it is fairly easy to learn about�the art of conversation. Consider the following�communication strategies�designed to help you start and maintain a conversation in order to make new friends.
1.��How to think of topics to talk about:
The initial hiccup that most people face is that they do not know how to use conversation starters. The trick is to find something neutral and common. Usually, your surroundings will afford you lots of things that you can use to strike up a conversation. Everything from the event you are attending together to the beauty of the surroundings is fair game. You can even talk about the host who has invited the two of you, or a mutual friend; even the traffic outside can be used.
�
2.��Open vs. closed questions:
Communication strategies�teach us that it is always best to start with a good-natured and open-ended question to initiate conversation. An open-ended question is when the other person would have to describe or explain something as opposed to a closed question where the answer is usually a "yes" or a "no". Therefore, instead of saying "that's a pretty bag", you could say "that's a pretty bag; where did you get it from?" This would result in the person telling you where they got the bag from or how they got it.
�
3.��Descriptive cues:
There is a certain way to ask something that can result in the other person launching into a long story or explanation. Words such as 'sense',�'feel'�and 'think'�describe intangible things such as feelings or ideas which need a detailed description. If you ask someone "what do they think about the current economic condition?" you would get a detailed description which you can take in any direction you want. Similarly, asking "what do you feel about xyz?" can be a good conversation starter.
�
4.��The art of listening:
There are many people who know how to start a conversation but only because they like to talk. The result is that these people end up talking through and through and the other person loses interest after only so long. This is where the art of conversation extends to listening which becomes a key component of�your communication strategies. If you want to start and maintain a proper conversation so you will make new friends, then you need to listen to what the other person is saying. Properly timed and appropriate responses can help in doing this.
�
5.��Practice empathy:
Empathy is in short supply these days because most people are too absorbed in their own lives and fail notice the importance of the art of conversation and how to utilise communication strategies. However, empathy is a sure shot way to make friends. Notice the other person's body language and energy levels and match yours to their's. Asking questions and actually being interested in the other person's answers is one of the best ways to make new friends. If they feel that you understand them, which means empathy, they will feel like talking to you more and thus you are on the way!
Get more information about practical ways to apply communication strategies to make new friends. Personalised communication skills training is available here http://www.conversationstarters.biz
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Rachel_F_Hill
http://EzineArticles.com/?How-To-Make-New-Friends-With-Communication-Strategies&id=7254164