How to Have More Meaningful Conversations

You don’t have to talk about the weather ever again — unless you want to

Image credit: cienpies

“Don’t talk unless you can improve the silence.”

— Jorge Luis Borges

How often have you found yourself in the middle of a pointless conversation, wondering how you got there? One moment, you thought you were entering an interesting discussion. The next, you’re desperately searching for an excuse to leave.

I’ve been there more times than I can count. Some variations of the meaningless conversations I’ve had included:

• Being asked for opinions on topics I have no clue about. Did you really just ask me whether the property market has gone up or down in the past year?
• Someone lecturing me on their favourite topic for hours. Do you even care if I’m listening?
• Talking just for the sake of avoiding awkward silence. How did I end up talking about that — and how do I stop?
• Stale conversations when no one’s eager to say much at all. Is anyone going to make an effort here, or am I the only one who cares?

Even just writing about those moments makes me cringe.