How to Have More Meaningful Conversations

One of the biggest issues that most telecommuters or people who run their business from a home office face is the lack of physical professional conversation. New leads are contacted through e-mail, client deliverables are settled upon over Skype and fellow team-members are kept in touch with through Slack or similar tools.

This means that the art of conversation, which can be a very powerful tool for any self-reliant professional, is reduced to snippets and emojis. That’s why this infographic from On Stride is so useful for those who want to make sure they are getting the most out of their physical conversations when they happen.

The tips concern how one should approach a conversation and ensure they are giving it the attention that it deserves. Research has shown that the brain can’t actually focus on sounds and visuals at the same time, so, though one might think they can hold a conversation while multi-tasking they are really only addressing both tasks poorly. A proper conversation requires focus and paying attention to the other party.

Psychologist Shelly Turkle suggests that the aforementioned truncated online conversations can lead us to feel a conversation is going nowhere if we haven’t connected with someone after two minutes. The reality is that it can take more effort to make a conversation successful in real life and one must have patience to avoid getting frustrated.

A useful trick to keep oneself engaged with the words of others and keep the conversation moving is to ask them open-ended questions such as, “How did you feel about that?” and “What would you like to have happened?”. Not only does this give you more information about the person’s thought process but also shows them that you are interested and engaged in what they are saying.

Physical conversation is a big part of everyone’s life but being good at it is especially important for those who spend a lot of their working lives outside of a traditional office environment and thus lack constant practice. By following these tips and putting them into practice you can start making the most out of all conversations whenever they may arise.

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