You guys have any conversation starters to offer a poor lemming?
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The semester is starting back up and i'm terrible at speaking words.
This doesn't have to be aimed at college students, just conversation starters anywhere would be very much appreciated.
Hey! I am new here, and I would like to get my fellow students. My name is u/pineapple lover, who are you?
By the way, the English language needs a word for fellow student. In german that's Kommilitone. It's a good word.
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hearty pirate laughter
"ARR ARR ARRR!"
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The semester is starting back up and i'm terrible at speaking words.
This doesn't have to be aimed at college students, just conversation starters anywhere would be very much appreciated.
have you ever killed a man?
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"ARR ARR ARRR!"
Yes, this is indeed what it sounds like. But when I wrote it out like that, I couldn't help but imagine seal noises.
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Not a great lead itself, but a useful poke a hippy at a festival taught me when the opening conversation starts to fizzle out a bit: "what do you want to tell me? It can be anything at all, take a moment to think about it." Then sit with the silence a bit (don't stare at them, let them think).
Some people will tell you some wild shit and/or open up like crazy if given this invitation. The person who used it on me got my whole life story, shit I was trying to work through by (in part) being there in the first place, etc. The last person who I did this with told me some defining moments in the development of their politics and worldview.
Create comfort, give an open invitation and a little space, and you'd be surprised how quickly you might move from small talk to more substantial stuff. Recommend everyone try it once just to see what the outcome is, so far it's been pretty neat.
I absolutely love this. Also, what's a poke-a-hippy?
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have you ever killed a man?
No.....? Have you?
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Hey! I am new here, and I would like to get my fellow students. My name is u/pineapple lover, who are you?
By the way, the English language needs a word for fellow student. In german that's Kommilitone. It's a good word.
Lol but why would we use one word from one language when we can use two words from two different languages? /s
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Not a great lead itself, but a useful poke a hippy at a festival taught me when the opening conversation starts to fizzle out a bit: "what do you want to tell me? It can be anything at all, take a moment to think about it." Then sit with the silence a bit (don't stare at them, let them think).
Some people will tell you some wild shit and/or open up like crazy if given this invitation. The person who used it on me got my whole life story, shit I was trying to work through by (in part) being there in the first place, etc. The last person who I did this with told me some defining moments in the development of their politics and worldview.
Create comfort, give an open invitation and a little space, and you'd be surprised how quickly you might move from small talk to more substantial stuff. Recommend everyone try it once just to see what the outcome is, so far it's been pretty neat.
You might like the "If you could invent anything in the world, what would it be?"
I used to sketch out ppls' answers and give them the drawing to remind them they're creative even if they never considered themselves in that light before. Bc every single person I ask can come up with at least one thing, from jeans with a star patch on the back pocket to a tiny home village arrayed a certain way.
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Yes, this is indeed what it sounds like. But when I wrote it out like that, I couldn't help but imagine seal noises.
Damned seal pirates. Scourge of the seas!
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The semester is starting back up and i'm terrible at speaking words.
This doesn't have to be aimed at college students, just conversation starters anywhere would be very much appreciated.
You hear about Pluto? That’s messed up!
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I absolutely love this. Also, what's a poke-a-hippy?
A hippie that uses autocorrect.
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I absolutely love this. Also, what's a poke-a-hippy?
wrote last edited by [email protected]Well I mean, obviously they are hippies you can capture and collect. Sometimes people try to get them to battle, but 99% of them don't like/aren't particularly good at fighting, so they are mostly pets.
Lol, j/k. By poke I meant a conversational poke/prod technique, by hippy I meant...well, a hippy that shared the tip.
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The semester is starting back up and i'm terrible at speaking words.
This doesn't have to be aimed at college students, just conversation starters anywhere would be very much appreciated.
A university-specific one: look up what the agenda of your student leadership is currently debating, then say “hey I heard the student body president is trying to [thing]” and go from there. You might accidentally learn about yourself along the way.
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have you ever killed a man?
I'm so sick of guys asking me about my body count...
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Does this rag smell like chloroform to you?
Not much room for dialogue from there.
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Well I mean, obviously they are hippies you can capture and collect. Sometimes people try to get them to battle, but 99% of them don't like/aren't particularly good at fighting, so they are mostly pets.
Lol, j/k. By poke I meant a conversational poke/prod technique, by hippy I meant...well, a hippy that shared the tip.
Aaaaah the poke isn't describing the hippy! Got it
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Aaaaah the poke isn't describing the hippy! Got it
Good! And no worries, that one is on me. It's a very poorly written sentence
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Why couldn't the pirate play cards?
He was sitting on the deck.
The other pirate couldn't steer his ship because the only wheel he had was sticking out of his pants. If you asked if it bothered him he'd say "Yar, it's drivin' me nuts!"
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have you ever killed a man?
In Reno and I watched him die
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As someone who used to be terrible at socializing but had to learn because I'm an extrovert you've more or less summed it up.
Charisma is real and it's a factor, but it's more like having a good voice and natural presence for public speaking rather than the skills to confront stage fright, properly comport yourself on stage, and work with an audience. A person with 0 interpersonal charisma may never be making a living off socialization, but if they build skills they can easily be well liked and have plenty of friends and a partner. Meanwhile a person with a ton of charisma and no social skills is going to have a hard time keeping people around.
But yeah, practice, practice, practice. And as someone else said, benign comments are great tools. "Some weather we've been having", complimenting something someone is wearing especially if it's bold (as someone who likes bold looks "that [thing] is bold and you make it work" is great), or even "ugh this is way too [early/late/midday] for this [everyday bullshit]
Complimenting people on their outfits is a great one. I do this a lot (the folks in my town are great dressers, what can I say?) and while about half just say thank you and move on (perfectly fine), I have had some people follow up with some other comment, like where they got it from. The last compliment I gave was to a woman with a cute skirt and she was like, "Thanks! I keep looking for the pockets."
