B2 – Upper Intermediate
Talk is never cheap. It takes a lot of effort to make a good conversation. Some are not very good at carrying conversations while some are just naturally born with it.
Watch the 10 basic rules on how to have a better conversation:
Discussion Questions:
- Talk about the tips/rules mentioned in the video that you’d likely start using/doing.
- Talk about the tips/rules mentioned in the video that you disagree with.
- Why is it important to be interested in what others have to say?
- Is it difficult for you to make a conversation with a stranger? Why or why not?
- Talk about an important conversation you have ever had in your life.
- What do you do to improve your communication skills?
10 replies on “The Keys to a Great Conversation”
1.Talk about the tips/rules mentioned in the video that you’d likely start using/doing.
Number 1 ‘Don’t multitask’.
Number 4 ‘Go with the flow’.
Number 6 ‘Don’t equate your experience with theirs’.
Number 9 ‘Listen’.
2.Talk about the tips/rules mentioned in the video that you disagree with.
I think that rule number seven ‘Try not to repeat yourself’, does not apply to all contexts. For example, if you are explaining something to someone, it might be good to repeat some concepts in order to make sure that the person gets the idea.
3.Why is it important to be interested in what others have to say?
It is important to be interested in what others have to say in order to have a fluent, meaningful, bidirectional conversation. When we are thinking about what we are going to say next while others are speaking we don’t really focus on what they are actually telling us. This can also happen when we talk about a subject on which we have a very clear opinion and we are not open to hear what the other person has to tell us.
4.Is it difficult for you to make a conversation with a stranger? Why or why not?
It is not difficult for me to have conversations with strangers in general. The hardest thing for me is having conversations with people in the work environment that I find intimidating and I do not know well. In this context, I tend to interact in a very serious manner, and it does not fit my personality.
5.Talk about an important conversation you have ever had in your life.
Negotiating my salary conditions.
Quitting a job.
6. What do you do to improve your communication skills?
I took a subject at University which was focused on improving communication skills in the work environment (job interviews, presentations…). Also taking these Phone English classes is being helpful to improve my communication skills in English.
Impressive job for your first entry! Keep up the good work!
See how you can revise your response for Question # 5. Remember to always write in full sentences. Perhaps you can even add details as to why you think these are the most pivotal talks you’ve ever had.
Go on with your writing practice to keep improving further.
In my point of view, all of them are good advices. But, if I have to choose, I´d say that to listen is the key one.
I´d say I agree everything.
It´s key to be interested in the conversation. For example, one improvement area is to maintain the attention. Sometimes I´m not focused on, I´m multitasking (as she said), and I´m not keeping the attention as well as I should.
For me, it´s easy to make a conversation with a stranger. For sure, if it´s in Spanish (my mother language). Maybe, when I´m talking in english I don´t feel confident enough and I don´t give my best in terms of conversation.
I´d like to improve my english level in order to feel more confident and, as a consequence, to improve my communication skills
Welcome to PE! Pleased to see you practice your writing skills through this exercise.
Here is a sentence you can still improve a bit:
Looking forward to reading more entries from you in the future!
1. I usually detail too much information and she said that one of the keys to have a great conversation is be brief and concise, so I waould like to start using this tips in some of my coversations.
2. I disagree with the fourth tip “Go with the flow” because there are some conversations in which you shoudn’t say everything that you are thinking.
3. Because it is important for them and if they are important to you, you have to listen and pay attention.
4. Yes, it’s very difficult to me because I’m very shy and I always think that he or she doesn’t care about “my things”
5. A few weeks ago I had to talk with my old boss because my intentention of leave the company . It was very difficult because he always was nice with me, so it wasn’t an easy conversation.
6. Not too much really, I try to listen to the people who know how to speak well and also I try to speak with strangers.
It’s great to have you on the PE blog! Hope you can take full advantage of this exercise to practice your writing.
Make this sentence a bit better by using proper preposition, correct spelling, and use of comma.
Cheers to more entries from you in the future!
Talking to other people is not difficult. The problem is to get the attention from the people. I think that one of the most interesting bullets of this post is listen to the other part.
In my case, the tip I should improve is “don’t multitask”, mainly when I’m on the phone. At work, I am usually working on my computer at the same time as I’m listening to the other side of the line. At home, I’m doing my tasks such as cooking or household while I’m on the phone. I must admit that I miss part of the conversations most of the times.
Regarding to the point I disagree with, it would be “don’t repeat”. I think that many misunderstandings among people come from both, a lack of attention during the conversation and a fear to be labelled as a stupid if you ask for repeating the subject. There is no need to say the same thing again and again, but at least, I would be useful to say again the most relevant aspects of the meeting, just in case.
It is important to be interested in what others have to say for various motives:
– Firstly, to be respectful with the other part. Don’t do, what you wouldn’t want others to do to you.
– There will be always something new to be learned
– The counterpart could require a piece of advice, some help, or some action from you in a specific matter.
For me, it is a little complicated to start a conversation when I don’t know the person in front of me. Maybe, it’s fear of not knowing how he/she is going to behave when I tell something. There are distrustful people who don’t confide in the first person who start talking and simply, they are not going to say any word. On the other hand, it is not easy to find for me a subject in which both can participate, because I do not know what I have in common with the other person.
I don’t remember any important conversation in my life. I have lived diverse experiences but none of them has been shocking enough to be reminded.
There are people capable of talking to an audience without any problem; it seems that they have been born to speak in public. On the contrary, there are others like me, who have to learn how to attend conversations in public along the years. It can be books, personal trainers and other topics which give you some hints to acquire these skills but the best way to learn and improve is practice it. I realize that the more I talk to the public, the easier is becoming to address them.
Fantastic level of commitment in developing your skills. You can definitely write.
Here are a few sentences/phrases you can improve further:
Continue with your commendable efforts and persistance.
1.Talk about the tips/rules mentioned in the video that you’d likely start using/doing.
I think it is a good excerse re-born your converational technic when you read or listen these tips. I am going to try to be brief and be ready to amaze about what I am listening. It will be a really good exercise.
2. Talk about the tips/rules mentioned in the video that you disagree with.
I am not disappointed about nothing.
3. Why is it important to be interested in what others have to say?
All experience are unique because each one of us are uniques.
4.Is it difficult for you to make a conversation with a stranger? Why or why not?
I have no problem to talk with a strange.
I think, I am not the only interesting person near me. So.. Why don’t talk with people. Every one of us have a big amount of experiences to be ready to be talked by one question. What do you think? What do you prefer?
I haven’t problem in tell anything. Sometimes you could tell things or get oppinions from person who don’t know you because they are more objective. They can see the isolated problem.
5. Talk about an important conversation you have ever had in your life.
I think the more important conversation for me is when I was a child. My father told me you must to be patient and gentle with the people.
6.What do you do to improve your communication skills?
I read about public communication and I tell my wife / family / friends circle when I talk too much or I extend in my answers or questions.
It is better to know your failures and fix it =)
Good job writing your responses to this lesson’s discussion questions! Keep going.
Take a look at how this sentence can be revised:
Continue with your practice.