DIFFERENT WAYS FOR CONVERSATION PRACTICE

How to get the most out of your conversation practice?

1. Pick the side you want to speak for

Most topics have two sides to argue on. You can pick either of the side – favor or against – or sometimes just take an entirely different direction. For example, if the discussion topic is ‘should laptops be allowed in classrooms?’ you can argue either in favor of the topic (allow laptops in classrooms) or against it (don’t allow laptops in classrooms).

2. Make a mental note of your regular mistakes few minutes before you start

Few minutes before the conversation begins, make a mental note of your regular 1-2 mistakes you won’t repeat. Even if you’ve to go slow or take other measures to curb these mistakes, do it.

3. Prepare a structure

Take the conversation seriously even if you’re speaking to a friend, because what you do in practice comes out in real situations as well. Prepare before opening your mouth to avoid rambling and frequent pauses. Get your thoughts organized in bullet points in the order you plan to speak. For example, if you’re speaking against allowing laptops in classrooms, following could be a structure for what you want to say:

• Laptops shouldn’t be allowed in classrooms [State what you stand for right in the beginning]
• Laptops distract even if the intention is to just take notes because users invariably drift to internet or offline games
• They also distract those who are not using it
• They also add to our screen-time, which is gathering menacing proportion these days
• Therefore, I believe… [Conclude]

4. Support your argument

Add any statistic, expert opinion, quote, anecdote, or personal experience in support of your assertion (you need to think of them when preparing your structure as mentioned in the previous point). That’s how you strengthen your argument. For example, you can narrate your or someone else’s experience of how distracting use of laptop in the classroom was.

5. Listen

When the other person is speaking, don’t think of what you would say next. Listen. Listen. And listen. If you listen, you would be able to counter his point if you don’t agree with it or build on what he said if you’ve more to say on it. A good response takes cues from what the other person said and reacts to it, and doesn’t get fixated on what you’ve already prepared.

6. Review after the conversation ends

Most people just hang up after finishing the conversation, which isn’t the best way. After the conversation, you should spend few minutes analyzing what went right and what went wrong. Few areas of improvement would be obvious to you, but few can be discovered through feedback from the other person. Identifying your mistakes is gold. Work on them. That’s the fastest way to improve. If you don’t critique your performance and take corrective steps, your communication skills would barely improve even after years of practice.