Hey! friends you are with me Niharika. This is the place where you can improve your life
skills, communication skills and business skills. Well, today we are gonna look at some
tips to deal with Awkward Silences in a conversation. You know there are times when you are having
a conversation with someone and then your conversation hits a snag and then you think
to yourself Oh hoh! Awkward well, yes silences or to fill in these empty moments is quiet
difficult for many people, Am I right? Well, people get a little nervous, they get a little
uncomfortable and few of them think that we totally fail in socializing. Well, that’s
not the case today I’m gonna help you with some tips to deal with awkward silences.
Well, the first tip that I have for you to deal with awkward silences is don’t panic. Many
people worry too much, Oh my god how do I feel these empty moments? You don’t have
to worry, don’t make a big deal out of this awkward silence, it’s alright , well you
need to stop worrying and you need to get in control of yourself. If you stay confident
it would send a message to the person that you are having a conversation with that these
kinds of silences are acceptable. So don’t make a deal out of it just stay confident
and in control of your conversation. Now there are times when these silences are absolutely
acceptable, there is no need to fill in these empty spaces. Well, for example you are riding
with someone in a car or probably you are sitting next to someone in the flight , not
necessary that you are gonna keep having a conversation with the person sitting next
to you for the next two hours , that’s like impossible. You’ll have just met, you’ll
have just introduced yourselves to each other, So do you think you would have many topics
to talk about? So even if you face these silences when you meet someone for the first time,
it’s acceptable. So the thing that you need to keep in mind is that stop panicking, stop
worrying and just stay confident when you face such awkward silences.
The second tip that I have for you to deal with these awkward silences is to come up with a new topic. You
know when you are having a conversation with someone and there are times when you have
to face these silences , don’t get a little uncomfortable, give yourself few seconds through
to introduce a new sentence and if you fail to do that it’s okay. Well, not necessary
that you have to talk about the same current topic that you are talking. Just go ahead
and introduce a new topic all together. Well, this will help you to keep this conversation
going. Now there are many topics that you can talk about , probably a good book that
you have been reading , try to discuss because then you will have points to talk about the
book or probably what’s happening around the world. Oh yes we need people to talk about
what’s happening around the world. People love discussing about the world, don’t they?
So talk about the current news or another thing that you can talk about is good movies.
If you have currently got a chance to catch up with a new flick, then go ahead talk about
that movie, talk about the actors, talk about the direction and there are so many other
things that you can talk about, so to fill in these empty moments, make sure that you
introduce a new topic altogether .
What’s the next thing that you can do to deal with
this awkward silence? Well, comment on the silence. Now here when I say that you can
comment on the silence, doesn’t mean that you can end up saying Wow! This is awkward,
no you don’t do that. Well, you can just probably crack a joke, for example you are
having a conversation with couple of people and one of them cracks a joke, and the joke
isn’t that great, people are not really laughing about it , probably because they
might think or assume that its rude or it was something really mean. Then what do you
do? Everybody keeps their mouth shut, now you have to fill in that silence. So something
like okay this is weird, but you know something this happens all the time. So just pass a
general comment, when you face such a situation. Now another thing, let’s take for example
that someone is talking something and you question them about something that they don’t
really like. Yes maybe the question is very personal or probably this person really doesn’t
want to answer you that, and then you face this awkward silence. What do you do about
it? Once again it’s time to comment. What can you say? Well, you can say, Oh well! It’s
alright, don’t worry about it too much. Hey! Did you hear about this news? So quickly
change the topic. Don’t make this person feel really uncomfortable , just carry on
with this conversation and then this person will totally forget about it. So it’s important
for you to comment on these weird silences. The next time you face one, go ahead and comment.
The next tip that I have for you is avoid flat responses. Well, that’s what happens
with me very often. I’m trying to have a conversation with someone and this other person
just seems to be least interested, ends up giving me flat responses like a yes or a no.
Now that makes me struggle to think about the topics that I would really like to talk
about . You know does that happen with you? You’re trying to have a conversation with
someone and this person just ends up saying a yes or a no to your question. Well, that
just kind of stops your conversation and that’s where you end up facing that silence . So
if you are doing so, if you are responding in a yes or a no, which are close ended answers,
you need to quit doing that. For example if someone asks you that, Hey did you go to see
the new movie? Yes I did and the movie was absolutely fantastic. Did you see the dress
that this girl was wearing, it was just amazing, and the direction was so great. So try to
continue with the topic, with the question that has been asked. If you end up just saying
that , Oh yes I saw the movie and then that’s it. Do you think that you will get a link
to that conversation? Would you be able to let the conversation keep going? Of course
not, so avoid these flat responses in a conversation.
The last tip that I have for you is take the
opportunity to exit the conversation. Now probably you don’t intend to end the conversation.
But at times when you are networking or you are in a party or maybe a family dinner , you
see that the conversation is not going anywhere , and then there’s this dull moment in the
conversation and you’re kind of bored or you’re irritated and you just wanna get
out of that conversation. The moment the silence hits , it’s the best time you need to grab
that opportunity to get out of that conversation. The things that you can say is like, Oh well
okay let me get another dink for me. That is one example. Another thing that you can
say it was great meeting you or it was great running into you, I’ll catch you soon or
ill catch you later. So you know these are certain things that you can say to get out
of the conversation. So the moment there’s a silence in the conversation and you feel
that yes the conversation is not going anywhere, no point of introducing a topic, no point
on saying something then just get out of it.
So this brings me to the end of this session.
Hope you’ll really enjoyed it. And the next time you end up facing these weird awkward
silences, don’t feel the pressure just stay confident , follow these steps. And of course
don’t forget to subscribe to our channel, because I have lots of more sessions for you
that would be really helpful. So you take care and have a great day. I’ll be back
soon.