Alpha Conversation Skills

You might also consider this approach in conversation: Aikido.

The martial art of turning your opponent's energy against him.

When you're in a conversation, experiment with asking questions that get people talking - and revealing. I find it very redeeming to minimize my energy output, and steer the conversation with questions. And when you get the knack of it, you can wait until someone talks himself into a circle or a dead end, then you rescue the conversation thread by putting your THOUGHT OUT response out there.

I do this frequently with subjects I've pondered long and hard about and have something interesting to say.

Dont' wait for the conversation to come to you - direct it to where you want it to go.

What do you think?

Totally. I've done this subconsciously at an event I attended recently. The convo in the car was dead ad all I did was ask 2 qyestions and the whole convo lasted our entire trip. It works if you don't know what to say and it keeps the convo flowing until you can come up with something better.

I replied to the Social Skills thread but still, I think it is a valid and comfortable approach to conversation.