User post: 7 topics to avoid if you don’t want to be a bore
Shine From Yahoo
by Gretchen Rubin, on Wed Apr 29, 2009 10:53am PDTI hesitate to disagree with the immortal La Rochefoucauld, but I think he was wrong when he wrote, “We are always bored by those whom we bore.”
Not always (though I often remind myself of this observation when I’m feeling bored by someone else). I think that sometimes we find a topic so interesting that it’s easy to lose sight of the fact that it might not be interesting to someone else. And most of us want to make a good impression and avoid boring other people.
Unless you get a truly enthusiastic response from your interlocutor—which is possible—be very wary of recounting…
1. A dream.
2. The recent changes in your child’s nap schedule.
3. The route you took to get here.
4. An excellent meal you once had at a restaurant.
5. The latest additions to your wine cellar.
6. An account of your last tennis game.
7. The plot of a movie, play or book—in particular, the funny parts.What do these subjects have in common? The listener has nothing to add. He or she must just hear you describe your experience.
User post: 7 topics to avoid if you don’t want to be a bore
Not surprised by it. Anyways, I do not talk about them or even think of it. There are the three things you do not talk about at the dinner table, which include parties as well, politics, money, and sex. However, I do not see emotionally charged topics like 9/11 or Hurricane Katrina/Ike, which I am guilty of talking about at times. Funny thing, it does not bore people because everyone lived through them. We all saw 9/11 attacks on live television and people affected in the Gulf Coast by Katrina and Ike.
