How to Talk to Strangers: Tips and Tricks

this is something i rlly struggle with. here's some tips i've gathered. • the goal of an interaction is to learn more about the person and share some things about yourself. don't focus on being interesting, be interested in them. • making people feel good about themselves makes them like you a lot more. ask about their passions, hobbies, relationships. compliment what they clearly care about, ex. it looks like they spent a lot of time on their hair today. laugh at their jokes, listen and make it obvious you're listening, say their name often. • prep a quick summary of your day/week/weekend in case anyone asks you. that way you can say something interesting instead of "uhh, not much". • if you don't know what to say, repeat the last few words someone said. ex. "so now i want to travel to europe". "travel to europe?". "YEAH because [reasons]". you can do it over and over and the other person will just keep talking • also use HPM to come up with responses. (history- how does this relate to my experiences? philosophy- what is my opinion/belief/attitude about that? metaphor- what does this remind me of?) ex. "ugh i spent 2 hours cleaning my room last night". (history- "yeah cleaning takes me so long but i finally found my 3rd pair of airpods." philosophy- "most people hate cleaning but i honestly think it's relaxing." metaphor- "oh it's like that one episode of spongebob where..."

i start asking favorites colors and random stuff tbh. tell stories and try to find common ground.