Rise of Tribes

*Refresher*
State A: Conversation Shy
State B: Get to a point of exchanging niceties (Hi / How are you / I am good / Have a good day)
State C: Natural conversationalist (good at having a dialog and probably a successful dialogue as well)

As promised, here are simple easy-to-try steps to help you transition from being State A (Conversation-shy) to State B (starting/sustaining a brief conversation). Look forward to hearing your experience after you try the below!

1. Start small – Say a quick “hi” or add one short comment. Example: If someone says, “I love coffee,” you can reply/add, “Me too, I can’t start my day without it.”

2. Listen first – Pay attention, then respond to something you hear. Example: If a friend talks about their weekend trip, you can say, “That sounds fun! Where did you go?”

3. Keep a go-to topic – Have one safe subject ready to share (like movies or food / in some locations – this safe or neutral subject is the weather). Example: If there’s a pause, you can say, “Have you watched any good movies lately?”

This way, you’re easing into conversations naturally without pressure, and each step gives you something simple to try.

Note: Throwback to my first job – during my induction program, I was making this transit from State A to B (new group, new terrain). In my practice of above steps for the transition, I asked ‘Do you like movies?’. Unfortunately, the response I got was ‘No’. But since I had memorized the questions, I went ahead with my planned next question ‘Who is your favorite actor?’ 😀
Take away: Do improvise in real time, based on responses you get!

Conversations – Where do you belong?

Today, I want to leave you with a simple metric – refer to the image here.

State A and State B people constitute about 70% of the total audience. This gives us hope that we are not outliers in these 2 states, but experience what bulk of our peers / colleagues do! All it takes is conscious effort to take that one small step each day. Are you ready to take that step?

Happy conversations!