How to Meet New and Interesting People - 5 Conversation Starters

Meeting new people is a great way to expand your business network or social circle, reinforce your own self-esteem, and practice your conversation skills. Here are five great ways to start a conversation with new and interesting people.

WAITING - If you and the person you wish to meet are waiting - at the bar for drinks, at the grocer's check stand, at a restaurant's host station - use this opportunity to comment on the waiting you both have to endure. This fosters a sense of connection and shows the new person you're trying to meet that you both are in the same boat.

Mention the bungling staff, or how the food better be worth it, or conversely that you don't mind, that good things come to those who wait.

LOOK FOR PLACES OF MUTUAL INTEREST - Simply sharing the same space with someone else is a great conversation starter. The people who you will find interesting will be at the places you most enjoy. If you do not like dancing, don't go to a dance club. If you do not like shouting over loud music, don't go to a live-music bar. Find the things you love doing, go there and look for people doing those things. It will be much easier to start a conversation about the things you are familiar with and have an interest in.

FIND SOMETHING SIMPLE - Look for something in the room that strikes you that jumps out at you that you can find some witty way to bring up. Pointing out something unusual and interesting will often make the person you are trying to converse with interested in hearing more.

MENTION AN INTERESTING FACT ABOUT YOURSELF - Don't be conceited, but a quirky, interesting (and brief) piece of trivia about yourself is a great way to break the ice when meeting new people. It gives them some idea about you, convinces them that you have some measure of self-confidence and openness, and it encourages them to share some similar fact about them. Avoid cliches, though, and do not under any circumstances use this as a springboard to drone on ceaselessly about yourself. Be quirky, be brief, be intriguing.

COMPLIMENT THEM ON SOMETHING UNUSUAL - Find some element or aspect of the person you wish to meet and converse with that strikes you, but that may not ordinarily solicit compliments often, and use this as a conversation starter. Mention perhaps, the way the other person carries themself. Avoid the obvious, such as compliment shoes or clothing, or hair (unless it is unusual hair) or just the new person's general attractiveness.

Follow these five conversation skills to meet new, interesting people in your area today! Now you can continue learning social skills to make more friends.