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I had one friend like that. As an introvert myself, it was like magic to me that in less than 3 sentences, he'd have identified and dived into an interest of th

I had one friend like that. As an introvert myself, it was like magic to me that in less than 3 sentences, he'd have identified and dived into an interest of theirs and held his own. It didn't seem to matter what area the interest was, he either knew enough about it to get the stranger talking, or asked insightful questions that they were more than happy to answer. In one particularly impressive instance, we (two men) got invited to join a table of 4 women in a bar within 3 minutes of walking in. They bought the drinks. I just sat their silently astounded.

decafninja 6y ago
If I end up talking to a strange and a subject of common interest and/or expertise has been found, I have no problem maintaining a conversation with them, leading up to even exchanging contact information so that we could catch up again later. But if no such common subject of interest can be established, then that often leads to awkward moments and conversations cut short. I think the people that are good at this can sustain conversations and interest even in that second situation. Maybe it's like you say - asking insightful questions about a topic they might be knowledgeable about but you're not. I can understand the concept, but I always feel very awkward, probing, and intrusive doing it unless they start passionately spilling the beans immediately. I would say almost every friend I made beyond high school was because we had some kind of common interest or passion.