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3 Tips For More Meaningful Conversations

Mallika Rao
4 min readApr 29, 2020

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“Conversation is an art in which a man has all mankind for his competitors, for it is that which all are practising every day while they live.”

Ralph Waldo Emerson

Ever wondered why it’s so rare to find those truly satisfying conversations, the ones we can then relish forever?

It’s a skill that takes time to hone despite having many opportunities daily. Verbal expression is a basic human need, yet few seem to understand the mechanics of making it an immersive one. As I hopefully look for people who might be skilled at this, I continue to also get better at it myself. Here I share 3 things I have been doing to practice the art of conversing.

Before I list my 3 tips, there are a few premises I should share which would make the tips more effective.

  1. Ensure you are in the right company, seek some sort of an intellectual equal. In cases where this is not a given, don’t expect to have an exceptional experience.
  2. Pause as you talk — this can be useful for the other person to pick up the baton and start talking, thus adding to the overall experience. Be sensible and read the feedback.
  3. Do not dominate as you share your thoughts. There is no need to one-up all the time. Make it pleasant for everyone involved. Give up your turn to…

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Mallika Rao
Mallika Rao

Written by Mallika Rao

Logic. Math. Computer Science. Scale. Hike. Entropy. Mountains. Photography. Thinking. Writing. Conversations. Coffee. Travel. Work. Improve.

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