Have you ever shown up at a job interview and not known what conversation starter to use? Ever had to make friendly conversation with an important client or colleague? Only to find you are confronted by that awkward pause while you desperately try to think of how to rescue the situation? Of course you have- we ALL have! Here are the 10 most common mistakes to avoid: Using the wrong conversation starter in the wrong situation. What you would talk about when meeting someone for the first time. An appropriate conversation starter at a job interview will be wildly different from, say, a networking meeting or a social occasion. Hogging the spotlight. Don 't waste the conversation talking only about you. Try to go for that balance telling people all about you and what is happening in your life and finding out about them. …show more content…
When you have run out of things to say about a subject, don 't panic and tighten up. This will stop a conversation dead. Instead, embrace the silence that follows and take your time to think of another subject and a suitable conversation starter to get things going again. Whilst you are doing this, you are allowing the other person to do the same and, who knows, the other person may beat you to it. And if they do, it 's a great signal that they enjoy talking to you. Poor delivery - that is talking too fast and/or too loudly; mumbling because you are too tense or nervous; talking in a monotone; forgetting to pause and take a breath. The key to success is to slow down and pace yourself. Use pauses and breaks in the conversation to introduce rhythm into the dialogue. Being too right. By all means present your viewpoint even when it is different from another 's but arguing your position too strongly will shut conversation down quicker than anything. The point of a conversation is to exchange ideas, not to try to change the other person 's mind. It 's more important to hear what they have to say than to try to persuade them