Gillian Sandstrom

Well, people and conversations with strangers are a treasure. Come on. So, yeah, I came up with a list of missions that were things like, you know, find someone who's wearing a hat or find someone who's drinking a coffee. I came up with a whole list of missions, about 30 of them. And, you know, I wanted them to be easy.

Well, people and conversations with strangers are a treasure. Come on. So, yeah, I came up with a list of missions that were things like, you know, find someone who's wearing a hat or find someone who's drinking a coffee. I came up with a whole list of missions, about 30 of them. And, you know, I wanted them to be easy.

I didn't, you know, most scavenger hunts, you're trying to make it a little tricky so people can't find everything, right? But I wanted people to be able to accomplish every single mission.

I didn't, you know, most scavenger hunts, you're trying to make it a little tricky so people can't find everything, right? But I wanted people to be able to accomplish every single mission.

I didn't, you know, most scavenger hunts, you're trying to make it a little tricky so people can't find everything, right? But I wanted people to be able to accomplish every single mission.

We found that over the course of the study, every day people reported being less and less worried about being rejected by the people they approached and more and more confident in their ability to start and maintain and end the conversation. And so it really did seem that there was this gradual improvement and that repeated practice was important. Just having one conversation was not enough.

We found that over the course of the study, every day people reported being less and less worried about being rejected by the people they approached and more and more confident in their ability to start and maintain and end the conversation. And so it really did seem that there was this gradual improvement and that repeated practice was important. Just having one conversation was not enough.

We found that over the course of the study, every day people reported being less and less worried about being rejected by the people they approached and more and more confident in their ability to start and maintain and end the conversation. And so it really did seem that there was this gradual improvement and that repeated practice was important. Just having one conversation was not enough.

It was this gradual improvement over time that stuck even a week after the scavenger hunt had ended. People still had more positive feelings towards talking to strangers.

It was this gradual improvement over time that stuck even a week after the scavenger hunt had ended. People still had more positive feelings towards talking to strangers.

It was this gradual improvement over time that stuck even a week after the scavenger hunt had ended. People still had more positive feelings towards talking to strangers.

The workshops sort of became research and then the research fed back into the workshops. But really, it's just a big practice session. You know, you're bringing in a bunch of people who think they'd like to learn more how to talk to strangers. And so before the workshop starts, it's very quiet in the room.

The workshops sort of became research and then the research fed back into the workshops. But really, it's just a big practice session. You know, you're bringing in a bunch of people who think they'd like to learn more how to talk to strangers. And so before the workshop starts, it's very quiet in the room.

The workshops sort of became research and then the research fed back into the workshops. But really, it's just a big practice session. You know, you're bringing in a bunch of people who think they'd like to learn more how to talk to strangers. And so before the workshop starts, it's very quiet in the room.

There's crickets because everyone feels a bit awkward and they don't know what to do, what's going to happen. And so I always start the workshop by just saying, okay, you have to turn to someone sitting next to you and just say, have a conversation right now. And then it's just this beautiful moment because there's this buzz in the room and it's just like, oh my God, people are talking.

There's crickets because everyone feels a bit awkward and they don't know what to do, what's going to happen. And so I always start the workshop by just saying, okay, you have to turn to someone sitting next to you and just say, have a conversation right now. And then it's just this beautiful moment because there's this buzz in the room and it's just like, oh my God, people are talking.

There's crickets because everyone feels a bit awkward and they don't know what to do, what's going to happen. And so I always start the workshop by just saying, okay, you have to turn to someone sitting next to you and just say, have a conversation right now. And then it's just this beautiful moment because there's this buzz in the room and it's just like, oh my God, people are talking.

And then it's really hard to shut people up.

And then it's really hard to shut people up.

And then it's really hard to shut people up.