Conversate
This framework is a tool you can freely use to help improve your conversation abilities. Great conversation comes from genuinely being interested in your conversation partner, and manifests through a mixture of telling good stories, asking good questions, and answering questions in ways that invoke curiosity. A great way to foster more engaged conversation and connect more deeply with your conversation partner is to shape the conversation around understanding why they are the way they are, and understanding how they feel about things.
Simple questions that have yes or no answer can kill a conversation. Use the two questions below to help re-frame overly quantitative questions into qualitative questions that inspire more robust and thoughtful responses from your partner.
| Why are you _____? | How do you feel about _____? |
| How many classes are you taking? Why are you taking the classes you are taking? | Do you like your food? How do you like your food? |
| Come here often? What brings you to this bar? | It’s a bit cold out, isn’t it? How do you feel about this weather we’re having? |
| Do you run a lot of 5Ks? What got you so into running? | Can I have your number? How would you feel if I gave you a call sometime? |
Persuasion