Micro-conversations are a great opportunity to improve social skills.

Steven Handel calls them “10-second relationships”. It could something simple as like talking to the cashier at a grocery store, or saying “Hi” to a neighbor, or complimenting someone’s shirt who you see on the bus or train. Sometimes you don’t even have say anything - a smile, a wave, or even a nod of the head would do.

Adopting this habit is super-easy: Just start saying Hi or Good morning or simply nod your head acknowledging them.

This is not intended to build your conversation skills but maybe over time, any of those 10-second relationships can lead to a better conversation.

A few ways we can build those 10-second relationships are:

• Smiling & waving Hi.
• Starting a conversation while waiting anywhere.
• Doing a quick favor for someone.
• Leaving a positive comment on someone’s feed if you prefer online conversations.

A couple of studies that support this micro-habit:

• (source::Is Efficiency Overrated?: Minimal Social Interactions Lead to Belonging and Positive Affect) studied how small talk in transactional social interactions improves feelings of belonging and positive emotions.research-paper
• (source::Mistakenly seeking solitude.) mentions that when we are forced to interact with strangers, it actually improves our mood positively.research-paper