The Social Mix: What Keeps You Interesting…

The Social Mix::

What Keeps

You Interesting…

by Kayna Kenall

• A sincere desire to please others. A faked, hypocritical interest in others, on the other hand, sounds insincere.
• A good sense of humor. This quality is a saving grace in any conversation, and people who can laugh at themselves without putting themselves down are real winners.
• An imagination that can bring life to the dullest of topics.
• Self-restraint. A good conversationalist refrains from beginning all conversations with “I”.  A good conversationalist initiates topics by turning interest toward the others present.
• A good self-image combined with appropriate humility… He or she plays down rather than broadcasts his or her expertise in certain fields, thus allowing others to discover it by themselves.
• A positive attitude. The interesting person does not hold people’s attention by using a negative, accusatory style of speaking.  Anyone can hold the center of the stage by denouncing, attacking, or spreading malicious gossip about someone who is not present.
• A sense of when and how to change the subject, such as when a topic has no more life, is too controversial, or is offensive to someone in the group.
• .Respect for the other person’s right to privacy. This means refraining from discussing a prominent person’s specialty with him in an intrusive manner.  At a social event, the head of a corporation doesn’t want to be challenged on his business decisions; a basketball player doesn’t want to be questioned about all the plays in the last big game; an actor does not wish to hear a lengthy critique of last night’s performance.  People who are stars in their various fields should be allowed to take time off from their specialty when in a social milieu.

Excerpted from Letitia Baldridge’s Complete Guide To A Great Social Life.