Life Tips: 7 Ways to Handle a Bad Conversationalist

Dealing with a bad conversationalist can be a difficult task. We all talk to many people throughout the day and sometimes meet those who are hard to talk to at school or at a party. While we can avoid them, it’s not the way out of the situation. Here are a few tried and tested ways that will help you deal with a bad conversationalist.

1. Change the topic of the conversation

If the topic of the conversation is boring, this will actually make for a bad conversation. Try to change the topic whenever you get the chance. In case the person doesn’t understand it, don’t give up and keep talking about something else. Insistence is a must here. The person will either go away or start talking about the other things.

2. Stay patient

Granted, dealing with a bad conversationalist is stressful, but you should stay patient no matter what. Count to ten, breath and finally listen. This way, you will show you are respectful and you will avoid any kind of conflict. Just because the person is a poor conversationalist doesn’t mean you should treat them badly. Respect is essential in any conversation.

3. Put yourself into their shoes

Listen to their story and offer your support. It’s so easy to avoid people without asking them why they wanted to talk to you. Maybe that person needs your help or advice. Put yourself into their shoes and try to help them and cheer them up; you will also feel good. A bad conversationalist is not necessarily a bad person. 

4. Try to listen

Another good way to deal with a bad conversationalist is to pay attention and listen to them carefully. When you pay attention, you catch details that you would miss when you’re distracted. Also, focus on the person’s body language and expressions and you’ll decode the full message and know the person’s intentions.

5. Ask questions

If you can’t avoid that person, then ask a lot of questions. Learning something new feeds our minds, whether it is useful or not. The human brain can absorb a large amount of information and an average person uses less than 10% of the brain capacity. So, you can even benefit from a bad conversationalist, if they answer all your questions if not,perhaps they will run away from you.

6. Provide feedback

Somebody may be a poor conversationalist because nobody has had the courage to tell them the truth. Sometimes the interesting and nice people are misinterpreted as poor conversationalists because of their poor communication skills. Help the person develop good communication skills by providing feedback. Find a kind, tactful way to let a poor conversationalist know they should improve their communication skills and tell them how they can do it.

7. Have a positive attitude

Your attitude can actually change the development of any conversation. If your attitude is negative, it can make a bad conversation worse. So make sure you have a positive attitude when you are dealing with a bad conversationalist. Think of positive things and you’ll feel much better and less nervous.

Everyone has to deal with a bad conversationalist every now and then and it’s useful to know some tips on how to do it politely. The great news is that communication skills aren’t related to personality and these skills can easily be developed. Don’t ignore poor conversationalists, instead, try to help them. 

Have any tips of your own? Share with us. How do you handle poor conversationalists?