Conference: A Quick Entry Before the Good Stuff

Well, today was indeed a very interesting day. I had two social things going on - yes, in person! First of all, I went to a conference that was semi-business, but there was still some social stuff worth talking about. The date that I went on tonight certainly deserves its own entry, so that will come in the next post.

This will be quick. I've done lots of these business-type things, and they don't make me anxious at all, when I'm not presenting anything. But the minglings with individuals still fall under the (rather broad) category of social situations in which I haven't been totally comfortable (though this is probably the best one). Anyway, good news: I was able to make pretty good, fluid conversation with one acquaintance that I saw there. It was pretty brief - only a few minutes, but I was totally comfortable and it was good. As usual, the conversation consisted mainly of me asking questions, and listening to the answers. As it turns out, I was already quite good at this, and I think I'm getting even better at it. It's great to have such an asset to work with on this mission of mine. Anyway, to keep bragging on myself, I am good enough at this such that it doesn't seem like an interview. I ask open-ended questions when I can, and use things that are mentioned in the answers as springboards to new questions. Occasionally I'll repeat something that the person told me, in a different way. For example, the girl I speaking to was saying how when she had a class with only 1 other student, she had to be able to answer the teacher's questions. So I said "Couldn't sleep in that class, huh?" Ok, that is a basic conversation skill, but I figure if you're reading this blog there is a chance that you don't have it. I can actually handle that much, so I won't dwell on it. I recommend the book "Conversationally Speaking" by Alan Garner if you need these basics.

Anyway, I also went out to lunch with another person, who is a borderline friend/acquintance. That's good, because one of my objectives (see early posts) was to become closer with acquaintances such that they'd be friends. This went really well. There was no awkwardness in any of the conversation, and there seemed to be more than enough to talk about. I was even able to talk more about myself than usual. Right now, that is the main thing I need to work on, because it's at the polar opposite of my question asking/listening skill.

Ok, that was boring. Next post: My date!!