Conversations People Relish-Path 3

 Conversations People Relish-Path3
Seven Paths Towards Richer Conversations

Krakow, Poland – 2000 – Conversations galore!

We talk to people a lot, then walk away and forget who we just had a conversation with minutes before! This probably never happens to you. But it has happened to me. I always heard that there is no sweeter sound then the sound of your own name. Think about it for a moment, don’t all of us like to hear someone say our name? Most of us really enjoy talking and getting to know people. People are important to us and we want to remember them. Which leads me to my third path in having conversations people relish.

 Path 3-Attaching meaning to the person’s name in the conversation. 

The quote below is very insightful, especially the last line.

 “A gossip is one who talks to you about others; a bore is one who talks to you about himself; and a brilliant conversationalist is one who talks to you about yourself.” – Lisa Kirk

“A brilliant conversationalist is one who talks to you about yourself.” WOW! This is a great path to follow. Whatever the conversation is about make it about them and not ourself. One way to do that is to use their name at different times during your talk. After all, we want the person to know that we are interested in them and not just what they are saying. 

We use names all the time. Store names, sport’s team names, national leader’s names and the people that live next door. In the Bible we read: “…for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.” (Acts 4:12),(my underline).  Names are important.  We know our family members by their names. When we hear a name, we instantly place meaning to it. Whether its a ball team, a store or a person. So in addition to remembering the person’s name when we speak to them, let our conversation be focused more on them than on ourself. Associating a person’s name with what they mean to us will help us in remembering their name.

The power of “name association” was taught unknowingly to me when I was a child in a Sunday School class. In the Bible’s book of Daniel chapter 3, we read of three young Hebrew  men. Names are; Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-Nego. The teacher taught us to remember their names as:
Shad-rack, Me-shack and To-Bed-We-Go.  I’ve never forgotten their names and the meaning of what these young men stood for. That is the power of associating names with meaning to etch their names in our memory.

Repeating names and remembering what the person means to us leads to conversations people relish.

Welcome to; The Richer Side of Life.