Do you ever find yourself in a situation, whether in your business or your personal life, where the person you are speaking with truncates the conversation? You’re left questioning ‘what do I say next?’, ‘how do I overcome this conversation killer?’.
“Never argue with an idiot… it creates two” – who is the bigger idiot? The person with the stupid idea, or the person arguing with the person who had the stupid idea?
This can happen when networking, you may find yourself talking to the complete wrong person, and you can’t work out how to extract yourself in the politest way.
Some people are stuck in their own echo chamber, and never change their opinions. Don’t waste time arguing with somebody who will never change their opinion… it’s waste of your valuable time!
To make sure you get the most out of your experiences – ban the term ‘I know’.
As soon as somebody says this, they close their mindset and shut off a learning opportunity. They have shut themselves down from having any further conversation. Anything that proceeds does not mean anything to them.
‘I know’ is a mental full stop.
Instead, use ‘Isn’t that interesting’… keep your mind open to what the other person is saying.
Whatever proceeds this is going to be a learning opportunity. Even if you don’t agree with a certain point of view, for example politics, you can still learn from it. As the great saying goes ‘knowledge is power‘.
It keeps your mind open to all kinds of possibilities, as well as keeping the conversation flowing.
Isn’t that interesting stops a conversation killer in its tracks!
