When we meet a great conversationalist, we often think they were born with natural charisma or that they have the gift of gab. However, that couldn’t be further from the truth. Just as a great athlete hones their skills on the field, talented conversationalists work to improve theirs, too.

Alison Wood Brooks, Harvard Business School Professor and author of Talk: The Science of Conversation and the Art of Being Ourselves, says that with small changes in how we approach conversation, and some practice, we can feel less awkward, more confident, and build deeper relationships. 

“Start small, ask one more follow-up question than feels natural. Prep one topic before you walk into a room. Find one moment of levity when things feel heavy,” Brooks told MasterClass. “Those are small moves, but the benefits are real, and they multiply exponentially over time.” To make these skills easy to remember, she arranged them into an acronym, TALK, which stands for Topics, Asking, Levity, and Kindness. 

Brooks explained the TALK framework in an interview with Cal Walters on the Intentional Leader podcast.

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