Hook

Their other posts in the index, biggest breakout first.
Most conversations die in under three minutes and it's not because you're boring but it's because you're asking the same questions that everybody else does. I'm gonna give you one question that flips that entirely and when you set it up the right way people open up as if you've known them for five and three quarters years. Think about it. Ninety nine percent of small talk is autopilot. How was your day? Good. What do you do? This. Polite, but it's forgettable. We'll break that down in a second. But you can't drop a deep question out of nowhere. You warm it up with something that makes them feel safe or I guess disarm them. This only works on people that you're actually trying to get to know or somebody that you've built a little bit of rapport with. Maybe one to two minutes open it up with one of my favorite things to learn about people is like what makes them them. Then I ask like, what's something you've done that you're proud of that you don't really get to talk about with anybody else? It's personal but it's not intrusive. So they have to actually think. This does a lot of things, but two of the most important things are it gets them to actually think and they engage in the conversation. But also you're asking a question that nobody else asks and they're given an answer that they don't really tell very many people. You're automatically imprinted on their brain. Try this at a networking event, date, or even with family that you already know. You'll be surprised at what comes out. And you can come up with a million versions of this question. Better questions make better connections and that's the entire game.