Does the mere thought of engaging in small talk strike fear into your heart? Do you ever steer clear of social events just so you'll be able to avoid the awkward silence that inevitably descends when you run out of chit-chat? If so, you need the comprehensive and straightforward advice that Mary Greer Conklin dispenses in Conversation: What to Say and How to Say It. A must-read for shy or socially challenged readers.
They run through all subjects that each may have something to say; they exhaust no subject for fear of tiring their hearer; they propose their themes casually and they treat them rapidly; each succeeding subject grows naturally out of the preceding one; each talker delivers his opinion and supports it briefly; no one attacks with undue heat the supposition of another, nor defends obstinately his own; they examine in order to enlighten, and stop before the discussion becomes a dispute.