Talk to strangers

Monday. March 20, 2023 - 1 min

Many of us were repeatedly told “don’t talk to strangers” growing up. That is excellent advice for a five-year-old. But as we age, this wisdom morphs into terrible advice for a grown-up.

The repetition from an early age tends to stick around. Without actively trying, hesitancy to talk to new people is an easy default to carry through life. We associate strangers with danger when they’re actually the key to unlocking pockets of interesting discussion as we move through life.

The random two-minute conversations sprinkled throughout life are the most fun ones, in my humble experience. The serendipitous nature adds a certain sparkle to proceedings. The randomness a dash of danger.

A stranger has the power to unlock everything you want from life. The missing connection. A snippet of knowledge. Or, better yet, a unique insight or opinion. Talking with strangers allows absorbing new learnings as people pass through our daily lives.

I challenge you to strike up cold conversations with new people this week. Like anything in life, it gets easier with a bit of practice. A good starting point is to talk about the environment or situation:

A lot of people think that elevator door close buttons do nothing. Would this one tick their boxes?
What brings you to this hotel tonight?
Did you see the one with the little man and the hoover? He dragged it around by his winky! (a recent conversation starter based on a t-shirt)

If nothing else, you might put a smile on someone’s face.