So how good do you think your conversational skills are? Could you walk up to someone and immediately start a conversation, or do you wait to start one? I’m not really the conversationalist. In many conversations I say a lot of things like “yeah” or “oh” or just nod my head... I hate to be that guy but I’m just shy when it comes to conversation. However, this is the only exception: if I’m talking about something I’m passionate about, or something I know a lot about (TV shows, movies, Pokémon, etc.) I might ramble or talk on and on about the subject. I actually had a very long conversation yesterday with my friend about Spongebob (mostly us quoting the show), then Gravity Falls, then DuckTales. (We’re big TV nerds sometimes.)
Wait... You want to talk to me? Uh... Let me just... Be right back! No, I don't like to talk. Yes, I am very loud and energetic. I hate being in social interactions with people I don't have a past with, and even then, with people I know, the oddest s*** happens to me. It might just be because I have bad experience with newcomers, but I just don't like to be near them in any way, shape or form, save for digitally cause I could care less who you are.
Small talk is my jam (not really, it just sounded cool)! While I secure deeper conversations with those I know well, there are a small handful of things I would talk to people about when I worked retail. Even though I'm quiet, I dislike awkward silence more than I dislike talking to strangers. I've met a lot of really cool people as a result of small talk. It definitely lead to my favorite moments at my job, for sure.
My autism made learning conversational skills a bit harder, but I’ve caught up for the most part. I know when to speak and when to listen. Same with initiating conversations. I do ramble from time to time and I’m practically a mute during group conversations though.
Awful. I almost never start a conversation because they end in a minute if we both don't have something in common, so I only really talk when someone speaks to me. That and I always say 'um...' and sometimes I just don't know what to say so I end up blurting something stupid instead.
Specific things that have happened to me in the past made it impossible for me to talk irl unless spoken to first. If you want to have a conversation with me you have to keep talking. The answers I give vary in quality.
And now for something totally different! I'm a very good conversationalist with only one caveat: I don't know how to start a conversation. If someone else says the opening line, then I can talk with just about anyone for minutes and minutes and maybe hours. I'll talk to anyone about anything, and will be surprisingly open, except that I lie when things get too personal, but I do it small and cleverly, like about my job or places I've been. I owe my conversationalist ability to mostly one thing: I challenge myself to never ever seem like an NPC. I never say the same thing twice (even in the phrasing of how I'm ordering a meal), I always reply to specific questions and commentary instead of generic all-purpose responses, and unless there's fierce competition I strive to always be the most interesting person within inside-voice speaking distance. It's like if I was a Fallout character, I'd have a Charisma of 8 and a Speech skill of 80, but I'm stuck with a hindering Trait of being unable to initiate conversation directly, but need others to activate me first.
I'm actually a great conversationalist...as long as I am the one who is approached. Both online and offline, I am quite happy to talk to complete strangers (and regularly do offline at the bus stop, to the point that I recognise more than a few people who catch the bus regularly!) about anything that isn't too personal...but I don't approach people myself. I have negative self-confidence and I am used to people not wanting anything to do with me - because who would, right? - so I tend to keep quiet and let them initiate. But oddly, I've never had a problem talking to other people, or keeping a conversation going once its started. Although part of it is that I am quite happy left to my own devices, so honestly even if I had more self-confidence I probably wouldn't start conversations anyway; it's a long-standing habit of mine to have as little to do with people as possible, as my health condition generally forces me into isolation so I don't have to explain anything. As I've gotten older that's started to become less true, but I think even without that I'd still be a very reserved person. But yeah, tl;dr - talk to me and I'll talk to you. Don't talk to me and I'll keep quiet. Either way works for me tbh. xD
