--- description: In The Art of Conversation: A Guided Tour of a Neglected Pleasure, Catherine Blyth gives some great tips on handling the subtle nuances of polite... title: Mastering the Art of Conversation: 7 Steps to Being Smooth image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- * [Ideas](/section/ideas/) ## Ideas Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Psychology](/tag/psychology/) ## Psychology Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Mastering the Art of Conversation: 7 Steps to Being Smooth by [Eric Barker](/author/eric-barker/) ## Eric Barker Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jul 21, 2014 4:01 AM CUT by [Eric Barker](/author/eric-barker/) ## Eric Barker Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jul 21, 2014 4:01 AM CUT In [The Art of Conversation: A Guided Tour of a Neglected Pleasure](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001P9O38A/ref=as%5Fli%5Fss%5Ftl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B001P9O38A&linkCode=as2&tag=spacforrent-20 "undefined"), Catherine Blyth gives some great tips on handling the subtle nuances of polite interaction. Here are seven of my favorite bits: ## How To Make Small Talk Via [The Art of Conversation: A Guided Tour of a Neglected Pleasure](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001P9O38A/ref=as%5Fli%5Fss%5Ftl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B001P9O38A&linkCode=as2&tag=spacforrent-20 "undefined"): --- > “” --- ## How To Make A Solid Introduction Mastering the art of conversation has to start somewhere, so you have to know how to begin. Here’s a solid formula. Via [The Art of Conversation: A Guided Tour of a Neglected Pleasure](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001P9O38A/ref=as%5Fli%5Fss%5Ftl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B001P9O38A&linkCode=as2&tag=spacforrent-20 "undefined"): --- > “” --- ## How We Judge A Successful Conversation Via [The Art of Conversation: A Guided Tour of a Neglected Pleasure](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001P9O38A/ref=as%5Fli%5Fss%5Ftl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B001P9O38A&linkCode=as2&tag=spacforrent-20 "undefined"): --- > “” --- ## How To Make A Conversation Progress Via [The Art of Conversation: A Guided Tour of a Neglected Pleasure](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001P9O38A/ref=as%5Fli%5Fss%5Ftl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B001P9O38A&linkCode=as2&tag=spacforrent-20 "undefined"): --- > “” --- ## Great Conversationalists Listen More Than Talk To help doctors be better listeners, their responses are graded from 1 to 6 with the “empathic communication coding system.” **The higher the number, the better.** Via [The Art of Conversation: A Guided Tour of a Neglected Pleasure](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001P9O38A/ref=as%5Fli%5Fss%5Ftl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B001P9O38A&linkCode=as2&tag=spacforrent-20 "undefined"): --- > “” --- ## Two Powerful Pieces Of Advice Via [The Art of Conversation: A Guided Tour of a Neglected Pleasure](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001P9O38A/ref=as%5Fli%5Fss%5Ftl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B001P9O38A&linkCode=as2&tag=spacforrent-20 "undefined"): * **Hear what people are really saying as opposed to what they are telling you.** * **Directness is a privilege of intimacy.** ## How To End A Conversation There are a number of phrases that can politely signal the end of a chat. Via [The Art of Conversation: A Guided Tour of a Neglected Pleasure](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001P9O38A/ref=as%5Fli%5Fss%5Ftl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B001P9O38A&linkCode=as2&tag=spacforrent-20 "undefined"): --- > “” --- I would love to continue with this post, _but I wouldn’t want to keep you._ **Join 45K+ readers.** Get a free weekly update via email [here](http://eepurl.com/o6uAD "undefined"). Related posts: [6 hostage negotiation techniques that will get you what you want](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/2013/06/hostage-negotiation/ "undefined") [How To Make People Like You: 6 Science-Based Conversation Hacks](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/2013/10/how-to-make-people-like-you/ "undefined") [5 secrets that will help you master conversation skills](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/2013/07/conversation-skills/ "undefined") _This piece originally appeared on_ [_Barking Up the Wrong Tree_](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/ "undefined")_._ ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"OpinionNewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3006280/mastering-the-art-of-conversation-7-steps-to-being-smooth/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3006280/mastering-the-art-of-conversation-7-steps-to-being-smooth/"},"headline":"Mastering the Art of Conversation: 7 Steps to Being Smooth","datePublished":"2014-07-21T04:01:33.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T08:54:26.202Z","description":"In The Art of Conversation: A Guided Tour of a Neglected Pleasure, Catherine Blyth gives some great tips on handling the subtle nuances of polite...","url":"https://time.com/3006280/mastering-the-art-of-conversation-7-steps-to-being-smooth/","keywords":["Psychology","conversation"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Eric Barker","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/eric-barker/"}],"articleSection":"Ideas","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/ideas/","name":"Ideas"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/psychology/","name":"Psychology"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3006280/mastering-the-art-of-conversation-7-steps-to-being-smooth/","name":"Mastering the Art of Conversation: 7 Steps to Being Smooth"}}]}] ```