You don’t. Conversation is communication and communication is a sincere desire to engage with another person or people for the purpose of exchanging thoughts, beliefs and ideas.
If one person has to carry the weight and pressure of the conversation then it’s not a conversation at all. It’s an experience that causes you to feel the weight and worry of saying the right thing in order to keep the person engaged. That’s not conversation or communication, it’s fighting to be liked, accepted and needed.
Currently, I am married to a fabulous communicator. But when I was dating, there were men who just weren’t engaged. I could tell by how they interacted with me and communicated. In other words, I sensed they had other things and people that were more important and served as priorities.
As the author of the upcoming book, 5 Steps to Assertiveness : How to Communicate with Confidence and Get What You Want (Callisto Media, May 22, 2018), my best advice is to relax, enjoy listening and asking questions. If they engage back with you by asking you questions, you may have meet yourself an interesting friend.
Copyright © 2018 S. Renee Smith.