A few hours ago, we were at the doctors office. The short, blonde, pretty face doctor was talking about our upcoming birth. Yes, we are four weeks away from our second child being born!

She used a conversation technique which very few people use, though I teach it in How to Start Conversations & Confidently Talk with Anyone

She paused for a few seconds after I or my wife finished speaking or asking a question before she answered.

There are three benefits when you use this technique:

1. You have time to formulate a good answer.
2. You sound smarter because of this pause. Seriously!
3. You avoid interrupting and thus leave a great impression.

Try this with your next conversation and experience the benefits.

Thursday night was the highlight of our week. My wife and I hung out with another married couple. We are great friends and always have a blast.

Over chips & chocolate, we laughed, discussed, and deepened our friendship. There was never a dull moment. Partly because they have great conversation skills and partly because of the powerful conversation technique.

On the way to their house, my wife and I thought of 5 experiences we could share from our life and then about 5 questions to ask them. We were prepared. Whenever the conversation started to wain, we asked the question or brought up our experience.

It worked beautifully.

The conversation flowed smoothly and we strengthened our relationships.

I use this technique all the time. Worked great on dates when I was single. Makes me look and sound professional during business appointments.

Don’t go into conversation unprepared. Think up several questions and conversation topics. You can use the FORTH technique from the Conversation Success System.

Have a Great Weekend,

Austin Barnes

As I’ve covered in the Conversation Success System, using interest with questions is powerful.

There is one question I would use almost every time.

Not sure where I heard it from, but it I loved using it and customers enjoyed answering it.

How do you like to spend most of your time?

Most of the time people would share about their work and/or hobbies. Great fodder for more questions or to find a connection.

(Finding connections is essential to quickly connecting with people. See more info in the Conversation Success System.)

This is a better question than asking “What do you do?” A person may be embarrassed to mention they are unemployed, etc.

Stick with powerful question above and you’ll take your conversation skills to the next level.