This has gotten a ton of votes in only a few minutes, so I figured I’d add: If you want to get deeper into this - very few people can have a conversation, disc

This has gotten a ton of votes in only a few minutes, so I figured I’d add: If you want to get deeper into this - very few people can have a conversation, discreetly think about something unrelated at the same time, and then change the conversation accordingly. If you’re one of the few that can do this you’re definitely not taking conversation advice from a poorly written blog. There’s nothing that throws off a conversation faster than the other person clearly _thinking_ about the conversation. Doing that is also a social signal the size of Texas that you don’t have normal conversations. Just relaxing and talking normally, even if you talk about yourself, even if you never say their name, even if you bring up politics, even if you break every rule in the internet conversation blogger rulebook? That’s a social signal that you DO have normal social interactions. Relax and just talk like you normally do, not like some blogger told you.