Heya playa, do you find it difficult to start conversations with complete strangers?
I know where you're coming from.
You don't know anything about them, they don't know anything about you so, how can you find
some level of common ground between the two of you so you can connect?
Well, I'm gonna share a few tips on how to do that right after this.
This is The Josh Speaks.
You're watching The Josh Speaks.
For those of you that are new here my name is Josh and every single Monday through Friday,
I make videos sharing tips, ideas and stories teaching you how to be your best self and
when it comes to approaching and talking to strangers, you have to remember one key thing.
You're probably just as nervous in doing it as they are in knowing who you are.
Imagine you're just standing around with your friends or you're by yourself someone just
walks up to you and says hi.
Your first impression is going to be hi and in your mind, you're going to think "Well,
who are you?
What do you want?".
Just like there's a fear in approaching someone and getting rejected, there's also a fear
of someone approaching you and not understanding what their motive is.
I think this is a key component when you approach anyone.
Your goal should be to create a sense of comfort between you and them.
So let's say for example you approach them asking a question.
Right there you're giving context to the situation, they know that now you're a stranger who's
asking them about something.
You're not just there to stand around and look at them or to do anything weird.
In their minds they're probably thinking "ok, this person wants to ask me this question
and then they're going to go on their way."
So that second piece of what you're going to do after you ask the question needs to
be filled in.
And a way to do this is to add a time constraint when you talk to them.
So you might want to say something like "Hey, I gotta get back to my friends in a few minutes
but I wanted to get your opinion.
Are there any good movies out right now that I should be checking out?".
Or if you're approaching someone in a place like a mall or in the street, you can always
say something like "Hey I'm on my way to get food now but I don't really know any good
places to get anything to eat.
Do you have any recommendations?"
Adding either of those two pieces: hey I gotta get back to my friends or I'm on my way to
do something now lets that stranger know that this is not a conversation that's going to
drag on forever.
That you have a set agenda as to what you're going to do and your interaction with them
just happens to be a piece of that and not the full reason why you're there.
But the key here is to extend that as much as you can.
So even if you say you have to go somewhere in a few minutes, you can always just casually
say every few minutes "Hey, I really gotta go but you're so much fun to talk to.
I want to get to know you better".
When you do that, you'll make that stranger feel like they're worth talking to.
But just be careful with asking too many questions.
You don't want to come off like you're giving an interview of some kind.
The thing about talking to strangers or random people that you meet is that chances are you
won't run into them again.
This just happens to be happenstance, where the two of you are in the same place at the
same time.
So make the most of that opportunity but if the person isn't really receptive to the conversation,
be willing to let them go.
Don't see it as a complete loss like "man, I should have kept them engaged, I should
have gotten their phone number, I should have done something with it".
Sometimes it just doesn't work out.
Speaking of which, if the two of you are connecting, you have one of two options that you could
take.
If you want to stick to your plan of your time constraint that you have to go do something,
you can always ask for their contact information, their phone number, their Snapchat, their
Instagram so you can keep in contact and make plans in the future.
Or if that person is free in the moment, why not invite them to join you for your plans?
If you say you're going to get something to eat and they're just hanging out, that's easy
for them to just tack on with you to go grab something as well.
Ultimately the setting you want to create is one where you just happened to approach
this random person, you started talking to them and you guys really connected.
So you want to take things to the next step where the two of you can connect a little
bit more deeper to get into more person conversation.
To learn about each other hobbies, interests, where you come from, what you like to do,
what you do for work, where you go to school, any of these really important things that
make that person unique and special.
But now I want to know, what do you think?
Have you ever approached a stranger in public before?
Were you nervous about it, did it work out for you?
Did it go horribly bad?
Leave your comments down below and we'll talk about it.
If you have a person question that you want to ask and you want to do it in a little bit
more of a private setting, you can always shoot me a DM over on Snapchat or Instagram.
I do my best to answer as many messages as I can.
Thank you so much for watching, if you enjoyed this video hit the thumbs up button, if you're
new here, subscribe and make sure to check out the videos I have over there on the side.
I continue going deeper into this topic of talking to people, approaching them, starting
conversations.
I also have my 20 ice breaker conversation starters guide which has a bunch of different
things you can start conversations with.
A way to make conversations a little bit more personal.
So, click on that right there to sign up for it, otherwise I'll catch you guys next time.
As always, love and peace.