I’ve developed a How to Talk to Strangers workshop that aims to:
- Remind participants of the benefits of talking to strangers, including that it’s enjoyable, interesting and kind
- Help participants identify and tackle some of the barriers that may hold them back from talking to strangers
- Boost confidence, by showing participants that they already have all the skills they need
The interactive workshop (polls! small-group discussions!) touches on:
- The benefits of talking to strangers
- The fears people have about talking to strangers, including the fear of rejection
- How to start, maintain, and end conversations
It’s more effective in person, but can also be run online.
If you are interested in inviting me to facilitate a workshop, please contact me for more information. Recognizing that I have limited capacity, I’ve spent some time setting up the workshop so that it can be run by other people. I’ve got a workshop template that you can customize, a set of videos that you can show, and lots of resources. Everything is free for schools and non-profits. Please contact me to get access.
A small part of the data that I’ve collected at these workshops has now been published here:
Sandstrom, G.M., & Boothby, E.J. (2021). Why do people avoid talking to strangers? A mini meta-analysis of predicted fears and actual experiences talking to a stranger. Self and Identity, 20(1), 47-71.
Boothby, E.J., Cooney, G., Sandstrom, G.M., & Clark, M.S. (2018). The liking gap in conversations: Do people like us more than we think? Psychological Science, 29(11), 1742–1756.
Gillian M. Sandstrom 