Some people worry about participating in social settings because they lack confidence in their conversation skills. They may dread an evening out or even just a chat with one friend, for fear of saying the wrong thing, not being able to think of anything to talk about, or whether they will find themselves feeling generally embarrassed about their conversational technique.

This book offers a structure to help with the skills needed for initiating, maintaining, and ending conversations. It looks at casual chat and formal talk with one person face-to-face and on the phone, as well as how to converse in a group.

There are over 30 chapters, each dealing with an aspect of conversation such as:
 
• Greetings
• How to remember names
• Being topical
• Using humour
• Reminiscing
• Repairing conversational gaffs
• Escaping!
• The Conversational Menu

Each topic is considered and discussed; exercises are suggested; “homework” is given on credit-card-sized cards, and then the Checklist is filled in, so that learning is secure.

This is a complete course on conversation skills designed for people over 16, either to work with the Speech and Language Therapist, or for some, to work on their own.