Ask open-ended questions to keep the conversation going. Share a fun story to make the talk interesting and help others share ...

As humans, we’re talking to each other constantly. With all that practice, we must be pretty good at it—right? Not exactly. As a professor at Harvard Business School and author of Talk: The Science of ...

Striking up a conversation—especially with a stranger—is a lot like adding kindling to a fire pit and hoping it ignites. Choose the wrong starter, and the flame will fizzle out. But when you get it ...

Dear Annie: Finding topics of conversation can often be difficult during long visits. Since “Grinding My Teeth” feels that this may be the last time she and her husband will visit with these in-laws, ...

My best conversations are with my friend Rich. He doesn’t have extraordinary speaking talents or the ability to tell side-splitting jokes. It’s just that after talking with Rich, I somehow feel ...

Most of us meet new people every week. At work, at school, at the grocery store. But we only remember a fraction of new faces. Why? In most cases, it depends not on the physical but the topical. For ...

Conversations with toxic people can feel like navigating a minefield—you never know which word will set off an explosion.