There is one golden rule that you should remember when it comes to talking to other people. It’s extraordinarily simple, but often overlooked.

The simple fact is, people love to think about, and talk about themselves.Think of yourself. You probably do these two things all day long. People want to share their success stories. They want to vent about things that annoy them. They want to tell the world about the “fascinating” things they’ve accomplished. Most people really want someone to listen to them. If you can learn to be that person and to control the urge to turn every conversation back toward yourself and your accomplishments, you will be seen as a sparkling conversationalist.

Make Friends

Knowing what to say and when to say it can help you make new friends, influence the important people in your life and get you out of awkward situations.

Just for fun, consider getting yourself a good book about body language. Knowing how to read people’s unspoken language can really help you to judge how you’re being received. Being able to pick up on nonverbal communication can give you a big advantage when you are meeting people for the first time.

Practice talking to people and get genuinely interested in what they have to share with you. Listen to what they are saying instead of rehearsing what your reply will be. Resist the urge to turn every conversation back to your own wonderful accomplishments.

See also: Funny Questions to Ask Friends When Bored!

Before you know it, you will be a master of the art of conversation and the people will envy your “natural” gift of gab! Learn to listen to others and to encourage them to talk about themselves. Suddenly, you have more interesting topics to talk about than you’ll know what to do with.

That is it. Becoming a great conversationalist doesn’t require you to be skilled at speaking about yourself. It is more of the listening skills that make you good at conversations. The next time you have a conversation, try and listen more to the other person. You’ll notice that the person gets more interested in you than before. And if needed, just throw some questions at them to get them talking. This random question generator can give you hundreds of questions to fire at them.

See also: Funny Questions to Ask a Girl or a Guy!