How To Be More Social And Talkative
How to be more social and talkative!
When it comes to having good friendships and arguably a happier life, you’ll definitely need to be social with others. For some people, this is as easy as breathing air! But I know for you some of you, it can feel like moving a mountain. Being social is not easy for everyone, especially if you’re not used to talking much.
That is why I made this post, to help you guys who struggle with socializing and being able to have a conversation. We will go through all the ways to help you become better at being talkative.
But let’s first ask the question…
How do you be more social and talkative?
Being more social is not a skill you can master overnight but something anyone can easily improve on. Learning how to listen is the easiest way to have great conversations with people and to build friendships. Asking the right questions, being yourself and having many interests will also help you become more talkative. These factors will make you a more sociable person.
In this post, I’ll go over 5 ways on how to be more social and talkative. It doesn’t matter if you already have social skills or you’re naturally shy and introverted; these techniques will work for everyone and benefit all. I’m sure you’ll find these points useful.
Without further ado, let’s get started!
1. Be a good listener.
I know this sounds counterintuitive, but being a good listener will actually improve your social and chatting skills. Here me out (pun intended).
People love talking about themselves and it’s easy to strike up a conversation when the person you’re talking to is engaged. Unless the person wants me to talk, I generally ask questions to keep that person talking. Everyone is passionate about something. Whether that’s food, relationships or money, if you can listen to what the person is saying and give feedback, you can easily become more social without much any effort!
For example:
Me: What’s your favorite food for dinner?
Friend: Lasagna!
Me: Oh that’s pretty cool! I really like the cheesy and tomato sauce of lasagna. Do you like Italian food in general?
Friend: Absolutely! I always enjoy spaghetti and meatballs, but I’m not really into pizza.
Me: Really? I’m surprised you don’t like pizza because everyone loves pizza. Why is that?
Friend: I don’t know, I’ve had bad experiences with pizza. Either the crust is too dry or the toppings aren’t fresh.
Me: Which pizza joints did you visit? I think I can find you some better restaurants than the ones you went to. 🙂
I honestly just made this random conversation up. But I hope I have showed how simple it is to keep a conversation going if you just go into listening mode and give simple feedback to the person you’re talking to. While the topic of Italian food might seem boring, that person is engaged because you’re getting their opinion and experiences, which people love to share. I find most of the time, you just have to listen and you can get people talking on and on!
2. Have a variety of topics ready to go
As mentioned in the previous point, most people love talking about themselves and that makes it easy to keep a conversation going!
However, there are some people (maybe you) who find it difficult to keep a conversation going. If that’s the case, then you can always talk about yourself to be more social. I’m sure you find it easy to talk about yourself and the things that concern and interest you? If not, then I suggest having at least 10 different topics ready to go that you can talk about to anyone. It doesn’t even have to be personal; anything to break the ice!
Some examples of topics you can discuss to a friend or acquaintance:
- Celebrities and pop culture
- Cars
- City life
- Health
- Money
- Work life
- School
- Food
- Sports
- Video games
I’m sure some of these topics will always resonate with someone. It does take some practice to figure out what a person is interested. But once you get a feel of what someone is really into, you can get a long conversation going!
3. Be your best self
I don’t know about you, but I find it easy to be myself. I’m sure you feel the same way! Being yourself allows you to have a more natural conversation with people. It eases the tension you may have and you don’t have to put a front for anyone.
If you’re not putting your real honest self forward, it’s hard to have a conversation if you’re trying to portray a certain image while also thinking of things to say. It’s harder to remember things and trying to be someone else is just difficult in general.
Now the reason why I say be your “best” self rather than just yourself is because you do want to put your best foot forward. We all have personal traits that are unattractive and we don’t need to show these traits to people. For example, for me I have a natural tendency to cut people off in a conversation. So if I was always myself, I’d cut off people all the time while talking! But my being self, I can be honest and genuine with someone and avoid cutting people off in conversation. That way, you get the best of both worlds. By being your best self and being honest, you’ll easily be able to talk to people!
4. Talk to different types of people
In my experience, I find that talking to all sorts of people in different subcultures and groups will help you as a person to become more social and talkative. I’ve organized social events with all sorts of different people, and I can say that has dramatically helped socialize and relate to different kinds of people.
I’m not saying you have to join all sorts of different groups to get this kind of experience. But what I am saying is that if you’re used to only talking to some type of people, try to branch out and speak to others to gain more social experience. For example, if you’re a geek and only talk to nerds, try having conversations with people who are more into mainstream stuff. Meanwhile, if you’re into the corporate culture lifestyle, try meeting people who are into alternative subcultures.
From my experience, it helps to talk to different kinds of people. It gives you a different perspective on things, which in turn helps you become a more sociable person as a whole!
5. Engage in different hobbies and interests
Last but not least, I recommend you engaging in different types of hobbies and interests. Having knowledge and experience in different activities will make you a more diverse person to talk to. You’ll never run out of topics to talk about with someone. And when you’re listening to someone in a conversation, you will be able to easily relate to someone if you yourself have experience in that hobby or activity.
Summary
To summarize, here are the 5 ways on how to be more social and talkative:
- Be a good listener
- Have a variety of topics prepared
- Be your best self
- Talk to different types of people
- Engage in different hobbies and interests
And there you have it; all the different ways you can be more social and talkative! I hope you found this post helpful. Now get there and starting socializing. 🙂
If you have any questions, leave them in the comments below.
