Five instant conversation starters

Five instant conversation starters

Whether you're new to the Network Marketing business, or have been doing it for decades, approaching a complete stranger with hopes of signing them up can sometimes be a tricky proposition. For one thing, cultural differences could mean that some seemingly ordinary topics may be taboo to other people. Or, in some cases, the person you are thinking of approaching simply wants some alone time and may not be in a chatty mood.

One rule of thumb in salesmanship is to make your prospect want what you are offering. In the case of meeting a stranger, the idea is to make them want to talk to you. This way, your approach has less risk of being considered invasive. But how do you make a complete stranger want to talk to you when you're the one who approached them in the first place? The answer is in the topic of the conversation—you throw in a good topic, and let them do the talking.

Here are five universally good conversation topics that are almost sure to get anyone talking, whether you're meeting them for the first time, or have known them for quite a while. For most of these, the clues can be found all over the person—in the clothes they wear, the accessories they have, and in other subtle clues. All you have to do is observe the details, and then decide which topic has the best chance of starting an animated conversation.

• Family. Say your prospect is in the company of at least one adult and a few kids; they seem to be a family. In a case like this, asking your prospect about his or her family is likely to get them sharing information with you proudly. Make a positive comment about one of the kids; ask about the kids' names and ages; ask them if they frequently go out as a family; ask them what it's like to be living with such wonderful people... the list of questions can go on. And even if the adult and kids are not your prospect's family, the bottom line is any person who loves his family will almost always be more than willing to spend a few minutes talking about it, even to a total stranger.
• Food. Everybody eats. So regardless of a person's background, food is always a topic that he would know something about. In fact, this is one of the topics that work best for prospects who come from exotic places. If your prospect happens to be having a meal or a snack, politely ask him how his food is, and say that you are thinking of ordering the same thing. Chances are he would be more than eager to tell you his comments—whether good or bad. Once this happens, it will be only too easy for you to carry on the conversation by asking what foods he likes, if he cooks, and so on.
• Sports . Most public places like bars and restaurants are likely to have television screens showing sports programs. If you happen to find yourself prospecting in such a place, look around for people, whether alone or with a group, who are glued to the television set, intently watching the game. The more passionate they are about the game, the better. Simply approach them politely and ask them something about the game—what's the score, who is winning, whether the game is live or a rerun, and so on. Of course, it always helps if you yourself know enough about the sport. But even if you didn't, simply expressing an interest in knowing more about the sport is usually enough to get a fanatic talking for hours.
• Music. Music is all around us—literally. Nowadays, it's typical for anything from a train station to a building lobby to have some piped-in music to keep people from getting bored. So if you spot a prospect in a place where there's music playing, make a comment about the song being played, or ask them if they know the title of the song. It doesn't matter whether they actually know the song or not, or if they even like the song being played. Your approach could very easily graduate to a conversation about your prospect's musical preferences. And if you're lucky, you might even chance upon a prospect who likes the same music as you, in which case you've got yourself a lasting friendship in the works!
• Directions. It's hard to imagine a person who would not take at least a few seconds to give directions to a lost stranger. This is why asking for directions is about the most effective conversation starter. Simply approach a prospect and ask if they're familiar with the area, and ask how to get to a certain place. If they happen to know the way, then you're on your way to a fruitful conversation. If they're not, then you can follow-up by asking them where they are from, or why they are here. With a little luck, you could soon find yourself discussing the person's business, lifestyle and other matters—all of which could at any moment open the door to making a quick broad-stroke presentation of the opportunity that is Network Marketing.

 

Human beings are social creatures by nature. We inherently love sharing our thoughts, feelings, likes, dislikes, and other things in our minds and hearts. The key in successfully starting a conversation is finding that sweet spot that will get a complete stranger to willingly share what he has to say. And with these universal conversation starters, you stand a good chance of actually hitting that sweet spot.