Conversation Starters: Hobbies
If you are not a natural at making conversation, then thinking of conversation topics when first start talking to someone can make you nervous.
While it is good to find other topics (more interesting) topics of conversation to move on to having good small talk topics up your sleeve will help break the ice and help you find those more interesting topics of conversation. It will also help relieve some of the anxiety of walking into an unknown environment and meeting new people. Alternatively, if you are networking online, having some conversation starters in your back pocket can make it easier to make conversation.
Hobbies are a great conversation starter, entertainment can be useful for a larger group of conversations with people. However, in a small group or one-to-one conversations, it is important to find a topic of conversation that the people you are talking to wants to talk about and is passionate about. People will be enthusiastic to talk about what they love, and you’ll get the chance to connect with them on a deeper level.
An easy way to get someone to open up about their hobbies is to ask what they do in their free time, which activities they participate in outside of work (and how they became involved), whether they’re taking any classes, and what they’d like to try.
Additionally, a lot of people have taken up and reconnected with their hobbies during lockdown so they may have also found an expected hobby that they are happy to talk about.
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