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Tip 237: Make other people the hero or heroine of your anecdotes. |
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When you toss out anecdotes of recent incidents, you don't always have to be the hero or heroine. Tell something amusing/enlightening/strange that happened to a friend, coworker, family member, acquaintance, or neighbor. People will enjoy your conversation without getting the feeling that you're self-centered. |
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Tip 238: Respond with a "Saver" if your remarks breed silence. |
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My husband has a flippant line when his comment gets a ho-hum response. After the silence, he picks up the slack with, "Not of grave importance, but it killed a minute," which always brings a chuckle or smile. Try others: "Not a front-page news story, but interesting nevertheless" or "May not be something that will pull you out of a national crisis, but could save the cat" or "So I can tell you are big X fans here" or ''Funny, my mother loved the story." |
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If the flippant comeback seems inappropriate, you can pretend you were serious and intended the remark as a conclusion to the subject under discussion. Allow a brief pause and then take up a new topic. |
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Tip 239: Do a reality check frequently to see if people are really interested in what you have to say. |
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To test for a follow-on story, toss out a come-on and see if the other person invites you to elaborate: "The same thing happened to me on vacation last year" or "That sounds like my bossalways getting into such scrapes." |
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Or ask an unexpected question. If they can't answer, take that as a good indication that they're bored. Either change the subject, relinquish the floor, or move on. |
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Tip 240: Give your listener a chance to leave if bored. |
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On occasion, you and another person may find yourself like two fish washed up on a dry beach. You can't get back into the conversational swim and you're not sure how motivated the other person is to flop toward the water. Try "Well, I know you have several people you want to say hello to, so I'll let you go" or "I won't keep youthere are so many people here that it's hard to find time to chat with everyone." |
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