How should I talk to people when I have nothing to say?

People think I am an introvert and that’s why I stay quiet and withdrawn. However, I think I just have nothing to talk about.

It’s like I don’t find anything to talk about. I am like that all the time and sometimes I am really embarrassed about that.

I need to know how should I have conversation?

Melissa Jeswald, studied at Montserrat College of Art

Updated Jun 29 · Upvoted by Michael E. Silverman, Dual Trained Cognitive and Behavioral Psychologist in NYC.

Here’s a simple formula you can memorize:

FORD.

It’s an acronym for:

Family

Occupation

Recreation

Dreams

When you meet someone for the first time, ask about their family; people love to talk about that. If you come to a dead end with regard to family, ask what they do for work or school. Then, ask what their favorite pastime is. If you get through this, always ask about the future, and what they hope to do with their lives.

It’s a simple formula that keeps the conversation about the other person. Showing an interest (and I hope it’s a genuine interest) in the other person’s life will make you likeable.

The one message I wish I could tell everyone is: DO NOT take the initiative and prattle on endlessly about your health issues, or MY perceived health issues. I don’t want to hear about your diet/health regimens, and if I would only listen to you, and eat like you do, my life would be transformed. It’s really offensive.

Bottom line: show an interest in other people. This is perfect for introverts, as we are usually insecure about talking about our own lives.

EDIT: People are telling me “family” is a bad thing to talk about. Look, the “FORD” thing is not to be taken as a blueprint for how a conversation must go. It’s just a few ideas to get to know someone “when you have nothing to say” as the original question read. If you’re at an event involving children, or a wedding, baby shower, etc. family is probably the topic that will be the most appropriate “opener.” If you’re at a cocktail party, it’s probably better to ask what someone does for work. The idea is to pick something to get a conversation started!

https://www.quora.com/What-should-I-absolutely-not-do-when-visiting-the-USA/answer/Jared-Busby-1?srid=4qnf

How can I stop thinking I'm better than other people?

I treat everyone with respect and am often told how polite I am but I feel it's somewhat fake. I really feel a lot more intelligent than most people with a tested IQ of 164. It's very hard not to feel that way and I understand it's more important to have relationships than be right. I'd like help.

Shanks Wang, Just a writer

Answered Jun 16

I may have to give you some tough love here and hopefully, by some minuscule chance, you will see the light at the end of your tunnel. So brace yourself.

It actually baffles me that, with an IQ of 164, you are unaware of the concept of sonder, that is, the realization that each random passerby is living a life as vivid and complex as your own. And each random passerby is just as likely to have the same misconception that he or she, somehow, is better than everyone else — including you.

The illustration below depicts this phenomenon perfectly:

You are not the first and you won’t be the last to have these thoughts. Having a high IQ has nothing to do with it. Your test result just acted as a fuel for your already misguided preconceptions.

The very first step to helping yourself is this — acknowledging that you are not different. If you feel that you are intelligent, produce some results. Affect some lives. Create something of value.

Then it is up to the rest of society to judge if you are indeed special.

What is the biggest mistake that a big company has made?

I feel that large companies back in the 90's didn't care about any of their workers all they cared about was making money .

John Charron

Updated Dec 16, 2016

Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC)

KFC partnered with Oprah. Live, on the Oprah show, she announced that KFC would give a free chicken meal to everyone in the United States. She directed viewers to a web site address to download a coupon. They did not have the controls in place to limit the downloads.

This resulted in photocopied coupons. Essentially printing as many coupons you would like, with no way to stop this. The following day, lines at all KFC stores were cars waiting in roadways. KFC ordered chicken locally instead of their normal supply lines, just to try to keep up with the demand.

KFC stopped accepting these coupons, and made a decision to have original coupons mailed out, one per address. This resulted in people waiting days, weeks, months, and hours.. People were not happy about this. Customers that are willing to pay for their food could not wait in these lines.

The KFC closest to me at the time closed its doors within months. I really feel this led to the demise of KFC. Yes, they are still an active company, however, emotions got in the way. And they've never been able to recover. Also, around this time the US in general, started focusing on healthy food options. Other fast food chains started offering healthier menu items, but KFC’s mainstay is deep fried chicken. I am sure other factors played into this, but I really feel this was a major turning point for this business.

This caused a lot of trust issues with consumers when Oprah tells the US to go get free food and KFC says no, you will have to wait. The check is in the mail…

I also cannot tell you the last time I ate at KFC..

Edit..

I also believe Verizon’s $5billion purchase of Yahoo will be my next answer to this question if it were posed a couple years from now, as they basically didn't buy any patents or real estate. Mainly names, addresses, and emails. Or as I call it, air….

Thanks ..

What are your biggest time wasters in your startup or business?

Josh Fechter, Founder of Badass Marketers & Founders | Advisor | Mentor

Answered May 11 · Upvoted by Pat Ahern, worked with/advised over 50 startups

1. Meetings based on ego.

Let’s have a meeting with the entire marketing team so I can spend an hour telling you guys what I’ve been working on.

2. Metric meetings

Boss: “Hey did we increase how many leads we’ve received this week?”

Employee: “I didn’t have time because this is our fourth meeting this week on whether these numbers have increased.”

Can’t he just shoot me an email or Slack message?

3. The sales gong

When the sales team has a win, they’ll hit a gong. For a minute everyone must clap and applaud the sales team.

Imagine one sales rep closing a big deal, then forty employees wasting a minute to applaud them, then another ten minutes re-focusing on their work.

4. Happy hours that shake up the entire office

You know all your startup employees who want to continue working hard even through happy hour? Well, they can’t. Your company wants to blare music and treat their employees to alcoholic beverages.

5. Unnecessary tagging on email

All employees must know when we have a support or demo request. No they don’t. Keep demo requests to the sales team and support requests to the support team.

6. Slack

Seem like every Slack ping is the result of a dumb meme that got posted.

7. Planning

Teams love to plan. They’ll plan so much that they’ll forget they need to execute.

8. Poorly structured standup calls

Boss: “Everyone give a one minute review of what you’re working on.”

Employee #9: “Closed out a few leads from yesterday.”

Employee #10: “Still working on the blog post from yesterday.”

By the end, everyone has forgotten about what everyone else accomplished.

9. Too many voices

CEO: “Did you see that Tweet?:”

Employee: “You mean that bot trolling us?”

CEO: “Yeah. How do we prevent this?”

Employee: “It’s a bot. A fake Twitter account. We can block them.”

Doesn’t he have more important things to worry about than a Tweet maybe one person saw from a fake account?

10. Too many learning sessions

Manager: “James, you need to join this session about sales implementation.”

Employee: “Are you sure?”

Doesn’t he know I work in SEO?

Manager: “Yeah, it’s valuable information. We need everyone to be on the same page.”

What is one sentence that changed your life?

Can be a real-life example, literature, etc.

Maria Balli

Answered Jun 8

When I was 8 years old, I went Girl Scout camping with my troop. I was very shy, especially since all of the girls went to the same public school together and I went to a private school. This was my fourth year in the troop and I still didn't talk much.

I woke up one morning with a terrible itch on my right shoulder. I picked at it under my sweatshirt, but it was still itchy. It was bad enough that I went to tell my troop leaders about it.

They pulled my sweatshirt off my shoulder to see what the problem was. I was terrified when they exchanged a look of dread.

It was a huge tick, embedded in my shoulder and happily sucking away at my blood.

The area I live in is one of if not the worst place for ticks in the United States. Those things are rampant here and a majority of them carry Lyme Disease. Everyone around here knows the basic rules, and one of them is that a tick should be removed immediately to lower the risk of contracting Lyme. You have to do it just right though, because if you squeeze the tick it will release more saliva and potentially the disease with it. My leaders had to get it off of me as soon as possible.

They led me into the center of the campsite, where it was the sunniest. Little faces popped out of tents; everyone wanted to come watch. I took a deep breath as my leaders began to dig.

The tick was stubborn. It wasn't going anywhere that easily. My leaders ended up breaking its body off, which is hard because the head will remain and will keep biting into your skin. It's not too tough to remove the tick in one piece, but once just the head is left, you're in trouble. I swallowed hard and bit down on my lip upon hearing the update, and looked straight ahead, trembling.

That's when it happened.

One of the girls I'd always liked best gazed at me. “It's okay to cry,” she said softly.

I burst into tears at that, releasing all the fear and discomfort that had been building up. I have never, ever forgotten those words. I am someone who is hesitant to share my feelings, and I often still hear a little voice in my head telling me it's okay to cry.

And in case you're wondering, I didn't get Lyme Disease!… that time, anyway, and when I did the tick had been long gone for two months. That's how it happens in most cases. You never even know you've been bitten, nobody thinks to test you, and if you do get tested sometimes it comes up as a false negative. A lot of people live with it and never even know. I only knew because in an absolute fluke, I got the signature bulls-eye shaped rash and that's why I got tested.

What annoys you about people your age?

Jordan Yates, Currently studying theatre education and English

Answered Jun 2

“I got a job at a theatre camp this summer.”

“Oh, cool! I got an internship with a theatre company—they’re letting me direct their summer show.”

“Wow, neato! I got a full-time job producing plays that I wrote and I get to work with Stephen Sondheim!”

“YEAH THAT’S INTERESTING I’M STARRING ON BROADWAY WITH BETTE MIDLER WHILE FILMING THREE MOVIES AND ALSO RAISING AN ENTIRE LITTER OF ORPHANED PUPPIES SO YEAH IT’LL BE A SUPER CASUAL SUMMER.”

This, as I understand it, is college.

It’s all a goddamn competition.

You can’t fucking sneeze in the classroom without everyone competing for who can bless you the best.

At the beginning of the year, a bunch of kids from my major got together and put together lists of their peers—who they were scared of, who wasn’t competition, and who should drop out.

No joke. Written lists of what they thought of everyone in the major.

And it isn’t even a competitive major!!!

That’s what blew my mind. It’s not a competition. The head of my major has said time and time again, “We’re fortunate with our major in that, unlike the acting and musical theatre majors, we’re not competing against one another! Isn’t education so collaborative?”

Everyone goes, “Yeah, Professor! It’s great!” while side-eyeing those around them in search of weaknesses.

This competitivity between people fresh out of high school is maddening. It’s like everyone has to prove themselves. We have to prove that we belong in college, that we’re going to do better than our peers and come out on top.

I don’t get it.

I just want to be a teacher. I don’t have time to write up lists of who’s a “threat” to me. No one’s a threat to me. If I get good grades, do good work, and make a good impression on my professors, I will find a job.

It does not matter what my peers are doing.

In fact, I’d love it if all 20-odd people in my major graduated with 4.0s and went on to become great teachers. That’d be awesome.

There is no need to treat everything like a competition. I’m hoping that, as college goes on, my peers get over their need to be hot shit and are cool with just… doing school. Having a good time. Not worrying about “winning college”.

It’s madness. Absolute madness.

https://www.quora.com/Who-has-had-a-weird-experience-with-time-going-weird

What kind of people will not succeed in life?

Sampa Mtanzania, Entreprenuer

Updated Jun 26

According to my experience, these are kinds of people who success can not see them.

Those who spend most of their time, discussing problems instead of solutions.

Those who are stubborn even to learn through mistakes.

Those who are hesitant to spend money today for the fear of what tomorrow will be like.

Lack of solitude

Those who compares themselves with others.

Those who are slave to sex and drugs.

https://www.quora.com/What-are-the-habits-you-adopted-that-made-you-a-healthier-person/answer/Jon-Westenberg-1?srid=4qnf