Art of conversation

Introduction
One of the reasons people are concerned about starting a conversation is that they fear that the other person will not value and/or appreciate what they have to say. However, research shows that this perception is incorrect: most people will respond positively, as long as you initiate the contact.
Some useful conversations starters include:
- humour
- commenting on local issues
- asking questions as people always like to talk about themselves (open-ended questions are more effective than closed questions, the latter generates yes/no answers.)