1 THE ART OF CONVERSATION

Be attentive 1

Start out with a compliment 2

Don´t hide behind your phones 3

Listen more than you talk, and ask many questions. 4

2 A: “Where did you grow up?” B: “Indianapolis, on the west side.” A: “What did you like about growing up in that area?” B: “Eagle Creek was great to sail on in the summer. I was on the baseball team at Brownsburg High School in the area, and had a great coach.” A: “That sounds like fun. Tell me more about sailing. I go to a camp in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan every year and have yet to learn to sail. When did you learn? Who taught you?” B: “I love sailing. I learned to sail when I was nine years old from my grandpa, who used to take me out every Saturday afternoon when I was a kid. Big part of my childhood.” A: “Sounds like you are close with your family. What other hobbies or activities did your family do together?”

Go armed with topics. Prepare. 5

“Becoming part of a community not only was I surrounded by people that shared the same love for Christ, but our conversations were about God's work in our life. The purpose of our being here and the meaning for the things we encounter. I developed a second floor to life after encountering Christ. The first floor is what is happening, the second floor is what it means for the kingdom of God.”

“In friendship...we think we have chosen our peers. In reality a few years' difference in the dates of our births, a few more miles between certain houses, the choice of one university instead of another...the accident of a topic being raised or not raised at a first meeting--any of these chances might have kept us apart. But, for a Christian, there are, strictly speaking no chances. A secret master of ceremonies has been at work. Christ, who said to the disciples, "You have not chosen me, but I have chosen you," can truly say to every group of Christian friends, "You have not chosen one another but I have chosen you for one another." C.S. Lewis – The Four Loves