Vanessa Van Edwards: How to Turn Small Talk Into Real Connection

You know Vanessa Ben Edwards, right? You know the person who is known as one of the best communicators in the world. Did you know that she calls herself a recovering awkward person? And did you know that just like you and me, she has a horrendously awkward story that propelled her to be who she is today?

>> Um, and so I was stuck in one of those conversational dead ends. Didn't know it at the time. [music] And I knew by the time I got to the presentation, I had lost them. And afterwards, I didn't hear back for a while, which is never a [music] good sign. And I got a call that

was, "They just don't feel that you have the presence to carry the show, so they're going to say [music] no." And I, the crazy thing about that call is I knew they were right. Like it wasn't even I wasn't even mad. I was like, "They [music] are right." Right? Like there is something I am fundamentally

missing about connecting with people. And a big part of the show was connecting with people. Like it wasn't just about the idea. Today we're focusing on the conversation about conversation her book. I believe this is her magnum opus. When I read this book, I spent so much time getting into this. I took 30 pages of notes [music] reading

this book. Every page was like a treasure chest filled with delightful information that I used immediately after [music] reading it. So, I'm telling you, I had high stakes conversations after reading this. I said, "Oh, Vanessa told me I could do this. Let me do it." Boom. Conversation better. [music] Next conversation, I tried a different thing. Boom. Made it

better. I'm telling you, I thought I was good at communication [music] and I am. But this will make you better. I know because it [music] made me better. I'm telling you, this might be the most important episode we have [music] ever had on the podcast. Because the things that you will learn today will not just