You can be extroverted or introverted or somewhere in the middle, but no matter where you fall on the personality spectrum, there’ll be times when conversation doesn’t come easy. Overthinking it will generally get you nowhere, but not having a plan of action or a back pocket full of topics regardless of who you’re talking to also won’t help your communication game. If you’ve ever gone way out of your way to avoid an impromptu chat, fumbled with what to say, or defaulted to the weather (again!), the following guidelines should help.

And yes, while “guidelines” is a scary word, I promise that none of them require you to be a genius small-talker, the world’s most charming person, or outgoing at all. Read more…