Have you ever felt annoyed, disturbed or simply bored out of your mind by the superficiality of most cocktail party small talk? Here’s a simple exercise to cut through the layers of polite reserve, adapted from Professor Srikumar S. Rao’s brilliant course, Creativity and Personal Mastery.

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When you meet someone at a cocktail party, imagine, while facing them, that it’s their last day on earth. The minute you do this, you’ll notice that your behavior, your attention, changes– and theirs will react accordingly. You’ll naturally find yourself gravitating towards more authentic, more personal, more solid conversation topics, queries, and answers.

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The conversation will instantly take on a whole new level…

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