Copyright ® 2007 W. Paul Barton

So you want to be confident in talking to people -- dates, people you want to meet, anyone.

If I were a $150 per hour consultant (which I am) I might make a lot of money helping you do that.

But, since the answer is just one word -- only 7 little letters, in fact -- I'm going to give you a chance to save some money by guessing the answer yourself.

The answer is the same whether you want to become confident at riding a bike, learning to swim or talking to someone new.

Did you guess it? If not, here it is:

P-R-E-P-A-R-E

You prepared to ride a bike -- maybe starting out with your Dad
guiding you on training wheels. You prepared to swim -- maybe
by going to a local pool and being trained by a lifeguard.

After that preparation, you became CONFIDENT. The same is true in every area of life, including becoming confident in talking to people -- new people, old friends, people you want to meet or people you date.

How do you prepare to talk to people?

I have developed a simple approach to preparing to talk to
people.

I call it AAQUA©.

AAQUA is an acronym for the following easy steps:

A -- ANTICIPATE. This means simply thinking ahead to
people you might be running into today. You know where
you're going to be -- at work, shopping, playing golf. Who
might you be seeing? A date? People you know? People you don't?

A -- ARM. This means stocking up in advance with things
to talk about -- the weather, the price of coffee, the
upcoming golf tournament, a great restaurant?

Q -- QUESTION. The question is your most powerful tool
in talking to people. That's because it immediately
accomplishes your most important goal
-- getting them "involved" in your conversation.

U -- UNDERSTAND. This means "listening" very carefully
to how the other person answers your question. The tone
of the other person's voice and the content of the response
can give you very important clues to the other person's
interests.

A -- ADAPT. This means quickly picking up on any clues
you get from the other person's responses to your questions
and using them as a springboard to further conversation.

Thousands of people around the world have applied this
approach to developing their own confidence in talking to
people -- people who want to be able to carry on a conversation with old friends, business associates, new people -- or, of course, their dates.

This approach has been successful for so many people simply because it enables them to PREPARE themselves to talk to people with confidence.

It's an approach that will pay big dividends in your confidence in conversation and your relationships with other people.

Author's Bio: 

Paul Barton of Sellfire Value Marketing LLC is the author
of How To Be GREAT!!! In Conversation, a book used
successfully by people in all walks of life to develop their
confidence and skills in talking to people. http://www.howtomakeconversation.com