Ask them how their day is going, how business is doing, etc. In most cases, these people will be delighted by your interest in them, and they will most likely respond positively. People waiting in line : This is another great opportunity for you to strike up conversation with a stranger.
Waiting in line is a boring activity, so most people will gladly welcome an interesting conversation. The best part about this situation is that the fact that both of you are waiting for the same thing provides you with a commonality that can act as an icebreaker and provide fodder for the conversation. When you get into a conversation when waiting in line, keep the conversation light, since you will probably only be waiting for a short time.
Social events : Social events like festivals, art shows, music concerts and museum exhibitions are perhaps the easiest place for you to get into conversations with people you have never met before. When you attend such events with friends, you will probably spend the entire time with your friends.
Even if your mother taught you to look at strangers with suspicion, most people out there are not looking to kidnap you or rob you. They are simply people, just like you. Remember, all your friends started out as strangers, and there is no reason why you should not turn more strangers into friends and acquaintances.
Reaching out to strangers and creating connections with them provides you with opportunities to make new friends and possibly even meet your soul mate, gain new perspective, expand your network, learn new things, improve your social skills and hopeful have fun experiences.
Having learnt the benefits of talking to strangers and tips on how to actually talk to strangers, I urge you to make a habit of talking to at least two new people each day. E-mail is already registered on the site. Please use the Login form or enter another. You entered an incorrect username or password. How did you sleep last night? When was the last time you made a list of New Year resolutions? How did that work out for you? Most …. Have you ever been so overwhelmed by tasks at hand that you couldn't remember your last name?
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I am pretty sure I am not the only one who was repeatedly warned not to talk to strangers. Our parents had a good reason for teaching us not to trust strangers. By telling us not to talk to strangers, our parents were trying to protect us. You can easily tell whether a person has malicious intentions and avoid them. If anything, talking to strangers is a good thing. It helps us expand our network and build relationships with other people.
This is why many of us feel uneasy about talking to someone we do not know. The thought of approaching a stranger and initiating conversation makes us nervous. As an adult, reaching out to new people has the potential to do you more good than harm. Below are ten reasons why you should start talking to strangers. The lady from the office next to yours? Pin 6. These beliefs may be unwarranted. In fact, our research suggests we may often underestimate the positive impact of connecting with others for both our own and others' wellbeing.
For example, having a conversation with a stranger on your way to work may leave you both feeling happier than you would think. We asked bus and train commuters in Chicago how they would feel about striking up a conversation on their morning commute, compared to sitting in solitude or doing whatever they normally do.
Most thought that talking would lead to the least pleasant commute. However, when we actually carried out the experiment, those randomly assigned to talk had the most pleasant commute. Yet every participant in our experiment who actually tried to talk to a stranger found the person sitting next to them was happy to chat.
Thinking others aren't interested in talking, or won't like you, are the very things that will keep you from making contact. In fact, research suggests that we consistently underestimate how much a new person likes us following an initial conversation.
Separate experiments on buses and in taxis yielded similar results; individuals found connecting with strangers was surprisingly pleasant. The positive impact even seems to spread to the person you talk to. In another experiment conducted in a waiting room, we found that not only did the people we encouraged to talk have a more pleasant experience, but so did the person they were asked to talk to. But simply reaching out to a fellow human being to say hello may be better received than people realise.
Few start a conversation with a stranger, but most seem happy to talk if you reach out with good intentions. One reason may be that the experience of talking with others and hearing a stranger's voice makes us realise they have a rich inner life of thoughts, feelings, emotions, and experiences, just like us. These brief connections with strangers are not likely to turn a life of misery into one of bliss. However, they can change unpleasant moments - like the grind of a daily commute - into something more pleasant.
Humans are inherently social animals, who are made happier and healthier when connected to others. Read: How to talk to strangers. Other researchers have come to similar conclusions. On average, conversations lasted a whopping People of all personality types had a good time. But is the other person enjoying it? So to test whether both parties were enjoying these interactions, Epley and Schroeder created another experiment.
Between tasks unrelated to the research at hand, participants took breaks in a waiting room. Some of these subjects were told to talk with the other person in the room and others were told not to talk; the people they were with were given no instructions.
The ones who talked—both the people who started the conversation and the people they talked with—reported having a significantly better experience than those who did not. They predicted, on average, that less than half of the people they approached would talk with them.
They expected that starting the conversation would be hard. But people were interested in talking with them, and not a single one was rejected. This misperception deters people from seeking out these interactions, and in turn deprives them of not only short-term boosts of happiness and belonging but also more lasting benefits, such as meeting new friends, romantic partners, or business contacts. But a deeper force is at play here too.
Participants in these studies expected very little from the conversations themselves. That prediction is telling. Why did it come as such a surprise that a stranger could be approachable, cordial, and interesting? So she set out to teach them. In collaboration with the now-defunct London group called Talk to Me, Sandstrom ran a series of events that aimed to show people how enjoyable talking with strangers could be—and to learn more about why people were so hesitant to do it.
She has since developed some techniques to help allay these fears. For instance, she tells people to follow their curiosity—notice something, compliment a person, or ask them a question. Generally, though, she just lets people figure it out themselves. Once they get over the initial hump, they find it comes to them quite naturally.
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