there's one skill in my 23 years of living that separates itself from the rest. and that is the art of talking.
Full Episode
The worst feeling in the world is when you're talking to somebody, you just told them everything about your life, and they go, yeah, that's really similar to this part of my life, and I totally didn't listen to anything you just said, and instead I'm gonna tell you about me. Who wants to talk to someone like that? Skills pay the bills.
Having something that you're good at opens up doors and opportunities you never thought existed. You're a great cook. You know how to really make some burgers at a tailgate. People are going to tap in. You know how to sing. You're like the next Sabrina Carpenter. Please, please, please. Come on now. I was in choir.
But there's one skill I still think to this day, out of all the ones that I've acquired in my 23 years of living, as Unk, separates itself from the rest. And that is the art of talking. The art of yapping and being a good conversationalist. Now, I know what you might be thinking. Zarky, I want that. I want to know how to talk to people. But it's hard.
To which I say, yeah, duh, of course it's hard. You're going up to a stranger and you're yapping about something. It's going to be uncomfortable. It's going to be weird. You're going to have anxiety. Of course. Of course. But hey, I've decided I want to give you an early Christmas present. And I'm going to teach you everything I know.
To open up conversations in your life that you never knew existed. With people you haven't even met yet. This is how to talk to. The first rule of talking to somebody is you have to initiate. Zerky, no. I want someone to just come up to me. Listen, that's what I thought too.
When I went to college at the University of Georgia, go dogs, I was so excited to walk down my campus and see all the beautiful, young, bright minds that were in Athens, Georgia. But you know what I realized very quickly? Everyone on campus has their headphones in, AirPods blaring the new NetSpend song, and they don't care about you. Because they don't know you. So they just keep walking.
They're listening to whatever they're listening to in their headphones. Maybe they got a podcast in. Maybe they're tapped into the Zerky show. I don't know. But unfortunately, no one's really going out of their way to say what's up. Regularly, right? But everyone would want it. Most people. There are some people that like their space. You got to respect that, obviously.
But if you want to talk to someone, talk to a someone... You gotta be the one. It's gonna be me. You gotta be the one that pulls up and is like, hello. And it might be kind of weird, but if you want to talk to more people, you need to initiate. Zerky, unk, what do I initiate with? This is a great question. The art of noticing.
Every person has a hundred different ways that you can start a conversation with. For me personally, what works is I always try to notice what they're wearing. I love football, soccer. If I see somebody with a soccer or football jersey, if I see they're wearing a jersey, they've got a Holland jersey or a Antony jersey from Man U.
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