humanliterate

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Essays and courses on psychology, social skills, and mental health. I read the research, keep what holds up, and end every piece with something you can try before dinner.


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Small Talk for People Who Dread It

Six lessons that walk one conversation from its first ten seconds to a graceful exit. I dreaded all of this until embarrassingly recently, so I wrote the instructions I needed back then.

  1. What to say in the first ten seconds
  2. Questions that go somewhere
  3. How to listen so it shows
  4. Disagreeing without making it weird
  5. Leaving while the conversation is still good
  6. How to practice between conversations