Conversation Cafe - Wallingford

Come chat with strangers in a low pressure, supportive environment.

The aim is to make it safe to "fail" socially, then use that to practice and play with and develop social skills. That means it's totally expected for people to:

• Run out of things to talk about.
• Miss a social beat.
• Have inconsistent eye contact.

Or whatever else you might be working on.
This is your place to experiment, knowing that "messing up" and having a chance to try again (and again) is the standard and not the exception.

Format

• Rounds of 8 minute one-on-one conversations.
• You pick who you want to talk to each round, or let someone pick you.
• Walk up to them and say "Hi" to start the round.

1. Structured - walk up and invite them to pick a conversation card to discuss.
2. Supported - walk up and try to find something to talk about. Use the cards as backup if you hit a dead end.
3. Open ended - don't use the cards.

(Optional) Things to Practice

You don't need to practice anything - just coming to chat is already an awesome way to spend the evening. However, if you are interested in taking some small risks without big consequences, here are common skills people play with:

• Active Listening - validating, paraphrasing, follow up questions.
• Not hiding behind questions - sharing and relating in equal measure, so your partner gets a chance to know you too.
• Asking follow up questions - it's not inherently invasive - many people are waiting for someone to be genuinely interested in them.
• Getting to depth - finding a way to shift to meaningful topics.
• Banter - keeping things playful and fun.
• Slowing down - if you're uncomfortable with silence, see what happens if you don't.
  

And many many more. Bring your own, pick one of these, or skip it - whatever you pick, have fun with it.

See you soon!

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Host or Publisher Descent Social Skills