What Is Your Conversational Style?

Photo by Warren Wong on Unsplash

Every time we say “Hello” to another person, we stand at the entrance to a potential conversation. Oftentimes, the way we say “Hello” will lead the other person to initiate the conversation or to cancel that potential conversation. Once we are admitted to the dialogue, though, our own conversational style will either allow that conversation to live and thrive, or it will cause that conversation to wither and die. Here are some conversational styles that I have observed in my almost 70 years of life.

The Miser. The Miser is a lot like Ebenezer Scrooge, the tight-fisted, money hoarding character in The Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. The Miser is the individual who will verbally share nothing whatsoever, often not even a return greeting. This character may grunt or nod after the initial “Hello,” but he or she is clearly not interested in talking. If you fall into this category, you may be perceived, unfortunately, as antisocial, self-absorbed, or downright rude. However, you might have a good reason for remaining silent. Perhaps others have hurt you in conversation, perhaps your personal situation is so complex and involved that you can’t formulate the words to express it, or perhaps you are creating a poem or a song in your mind, and you do not want to be interrupted. Whatever the reason, you are entitled to your silence if that’s what you need, and you can eventually break away…