I would characterize myself as being a relatively outgoing
person. I have not always been outgoing and able to make conversation with a
stranger with ease. I remember when I was growing up I was a very shy kid who
did not want to look at anybody in the eye and when I answered questions it was
very short answers. I believe that cultures often dictate from the beginning who
comfortable you are with strangers and the unknown aspects of conversation. I can
attribute this initial behavior to my upbringing in the South. My parents
always taught me to respect adults and elders and to use manners such as the
terms “yes sir, yes ma’am, and so on”. This was done out of respect of the age
of status as adults. This initial lesson in making conversation with strangers
can be looked at as a weakness for some but I tend to disagree and these
learned traits have given me a sense of learning how to talk to strangers and
this is how.
In the
lesson learned in this chapter the message delivery method has opened up new
approaches with conversation and the meeting of strangers. I can say now that I
am extremely comfortable with talking to strangers. I utilize these skills
everyday with my professional career. I have to gain the comfort level of the
victim of a violent and personal crime. The stranger will often open up and
reveal personal details and sometimes intimate details based upon the crime. I have
used the active listening skills to my advantage and built upon the trust of
the stranger. This is a very important skill to have and I have at every chance
used these skills I have learned to my advantage.
On a
personal level I have transferred these skills and have been comfortable
working the room. I do have to admit I have used these skills to talk to the
opposite sex and with a majority of positive results. I have found out that I seem
to be more comfortable talking to the opposite sex than I do my own. I seem to
be able to be a compassionate active listener and have learned to read the body
language of the strangers and gaged my next response off of these gestures to
change my approach to conversation. These
skills have proved invaluable in past experiences and hopefully I can continue
with these successes.
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