Royane Real
20 Excellent Conversation Questions Everyone Loves
By Peter Murphy
Introduction by Royane Real
Author of “Your Guide to Making Friendly Conversation”
In my special report, “Your Guide to Making Friendly Conversation” which is available at http://www.lulu.com/real ,I point out that there is a way to keep almost any conversation going as long as you would like. You can even use this technique when you are talking with someone who isn't very talkative.
What is this special conversation technique? It involves the correct method of using open ended questions in a conversation.
Perhaps you have never thought of this before, but there are two basic kinds of questions that people use when they are talking to each other. You have used both of these kinds of questions when you have talked to others, and other people have also used both of these kinds of questions when they talk to you.
One kind of question is called a “closed-ended” question. That means that the question is worded in such a way that the other person can simply answer with one word, such as “yes” or “no”.
Here is an example of a closed-ended question: “Did you grow up in this city?” The answer to this will either be “yes” or “no”. If you are trying to get a conversation going, one word answers won’t get you very far. The conversation will quickly get choppy and awkward.
So, don't use closed-ended questions too much in a conversation. You should only use closed-ended questions when you want the other person to give you a very brief reply, and you don’t want them to ramble on and on.
There is another kind of question you can use in conversations when you want the opposite kind of effect. When you want the other person to keep talking and give you lots of information, you should ask an “open-ended’ question.
An open-ended question cannot be answered with a simple “yes” or “no”. An open-ended question asks for much more information, the person you are talking with has to put a lot more thought into the answer.
When you ask open-ended questions, you show the other person that you are genuinely interested in what they have to say.
If you have had lots of problems keeping your conversations with other people going, start using a lot more open-ended questions in your conversations. And then make sure that you listen to what the other person tells you, and show in some way that you are reacting to their comments.
As I have mentioned in my short report, “Your Guide to Making Friendly Conversation” , by using open ended questions correctly, you can keep a conversation going for as long as you want!
If you have a hard time thinking up open-ended questions, make a list in advance so that you can memorize a few questions and use them in your conversations.
In this particular article, Peter Murphy has provide some examples of open-ended questions so you can see how they might stimulate the other person to talk to you.
You can study the examples he provided, or you can use your imagination to develop your own list of open ended questions to use when you want to keep a conversation going.
( These introductory comments above are by Royane Real.)
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20 Excellent Conversation Questions Everyone Loves
By Peter Murphy
Once you have experimented asking with questions for a while, you will realize just how great questions are for starting conversations. Asking questions helps conversations flow and helps you get to know someone better. Now it is time to have some fun with it!
What makes an excellent conversation question?
1. It is easy to answer
2. It does not cause offence
3. It includes everyone
4. People will not be judged on their responses!
This last point is particularly important. People will be reluctant to talk if they feel they will be judged. A good conversation question is also about tone and circumstances.
Below is a list of excellent conversation questions to delve deeper into the personalities of people you feel comfortable with and find out a few more things about them. These are great for social gatherings and parties or anywhere you want to have fun and get to know someone in the process.
It is a great spin on the old party game "Twenty Questions". See where each question leads you when you get the answers. Do not turn your questioning into an interrogation. Listen to the answers you get.
Pick up on the answers and ask subsidiary questions. Add your own answers to the conversation. Ask whatever questions seem appropriate and whatever the other person seems to want you to do. Just go with the flow and enjoy it!
1. If you were God for a day, what would you do?
2. If you could be the parent of one famous person, who would you want it to be and why?
3. What was the last thing you regret buying?
4. If you had a chance to bring one person back from the dead, who would it be and why?
5. What three things do you regret not learning to do?
6. If you had a crystal ball that could tell you the truth about any one thing you wished to know about yourself, life, the future, or anything else, what would you want to know?
7. What's worse... having expectations that are too high, or having no expectations at all?
8. How do you know when you're in love?
9. What is the most important invention or innovation that has happened during your life-time?
10. How would you spend your ideal day?
11. What, if anything, is too serious to be joked about?
12. What three adjectives might other people use to describe your personality?
13. Who would you choose to be shipwrecked on a desert island with?
14. What is your idea of a perfect romantic evening?
15. If you were to be remembered for one thing, what would you like it to be?
16. If you were guaranteed honest responses to any three questions, whom would you question, and what would you ask them?
17. If you saw someone shoplifting, what would you do?
18. Is there anything you would willingly give your life for?
19. If you could re-live a day of your life again, which would it be and why?
20. If you could be invisible for a day, what would you do?
These are all light-hearted questions that should cause no-one offence. They also touch on philosophical issues and allow you to get to know a person - if they are honest with their answers. You make it a lot more likely that they will tell the truth if you set the scene and provide a relaxed atmosphere. Also, be prepared to chip in with your own answers.
Under the right circumstances, these excellent conversation questions enable you to get to know more about your friends.
Article source: http://www.1articleworld.com
Peter Murphy is a peak performance expert. He recently produced a very popular free report: 10 Simple Steps to Developing Communication Confidence. Apply now because it is available only at: conversation starters
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