Most young people take class at school for wide ranging subjects of a purely academic sort, but schools also provide more practical classes like home economics and shop. Sadly, few if anyone trains the young in how to handle themselves in an important social or business setting, despite such a gathering's potential for making all sorts of advancement. Luckily, the average college graduate and non-graduate alike can complete their education with books on small talk.
Some people just have a natural gift for light conversation, and never seem fail at being just interesting enough for the occasion. These are often people who were raised in good families, which brings up the point that conversational skill is often an upper class attribute few people enjoy. Much of the advantage of attending all the right schools has nothing to do with academics, and everything to do with socialization.
By contrast, people who are rising in life might be smart and hard workers, but lacking in social graces. A recurring them in literature and film is the person at the upscale party who could not be uninvited because he has too much money, but who is generally disliked. One of the ways this character is identified is by his being too coarse in his or her manners and too intense in speaking.
In any number of situations, being able to make good conversation can be a tremendous advantage. Dating life is among the more obvious of these spheres of life, a sphere that is not just about conversing with a date over dinner but the right kind of flirting at a dinner party. By "dating life" one also includes random moments when one meets someone in a supermarket, at work, or on the street.
Business also affords a variety of circumstances in which one's ability to make conversation might make all the difference. There are any number of wealthy people whose big break came when they charmed the right person during a random elevator ride. There are also those obvious occasions, such as a job interview, or entertaining a potential client.
Life offers no shortage of situations which might advertise themselves as good, bubbly fun, but which are in truth seething with ambition, ego, and intrigue. An academic party can seem like innocent fun, unless one is an associate professor looking toward tenure. Ironically, one of the hallmarks of proving that one belongs in such a room is knowing how to converse and how not to.
One's humor should be fresh, quick to the point, and slow to offend even the most sensitive. It is worth while to cultivate at least a passing interest in many subjects without showing oneself to be overwhelmed with passion about them. Above all, one should learn to find what is likable in the people one encounters.
It is equally important not to overlook those who do not obviously offer whatever one is looking for. Socialize broadly and unhurriedly, enjoying all types of people, not just the best placed or prettiest. Conversational skills are about building networks of associates, and one measures success at party by whether one gets invited to others.
Some people just have a natural gift for light conversation, and never seem fail at being just interesting enough for the occasion. These are often people who were raised in good families, which brings up the point that conversational skill is often an upper class attribute few people enjoy. Much of the advantage of attending all the right schools has nothing to do with academics, and everything to do with socialization.
By contrast, people who are rising in life might be smart and hard workers, but lacking in social graces. A recurring them in literature and film is the person at the upscale party who could not be uninvited because he has too much money, but who is generally disliked. One of the ways this character is identified is by his being too coarse in his or her manners and too intense in speaking.
In any number of situations, being able to make good conversation can be a tremendous advantage. Dating life is among the more obvious of these spheres of life, a sphere that is not just about conversing with a date over dinner but the right kind of flirting at a dinner party. By "dating life" one also includes random moments when one meets someone in a supermarket, at work, or on the street.
Business also affords a variety of circumstances in which one's ability to make conversation might make all the difference. There are any number of wealthy people whose big break came when they charmed the right person during a random elevator ride. There are also those obvious occasions, such as a job interview, or entertaining a potential client.
Life offers no shortage of situations which might advertise themselves as good, bubbly fun, but which are in truth seething with ambition, ego, and intrigue. An academic party can seem like innocent fun, unless one is an associate professor looking toward tenure. Ironically, one of the hallmarks of proving that one belongs in such a room is knowing how to converse and how not to.
One's humor should be fresh, quick to the point, and slow to offend even the most sensitive. It is worth while to cultivate at least a passing interest in many subjects without showing oneself to be overwhelmed with passion about them. Above all, one should learn to find what is likable in the people one encounters.
It is equally important not to overlook those who do not obviously offer whatever one is looking for. Socialize broadly and unhurriedly, enjoying all types of people, not just the best placed or prettiest. Conversational skills are about building networks of associates, and one measures success at party by whether one gets invited to others.
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