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Speaker 1: Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of I Heart Radio.

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Speaker 1: Good Morning, This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast.

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Speaker 1: Today's tip is to ask what's next for you today?

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Speaker 1: When you're in a conversation that has stopped going anywhere.

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Speaker 1: This one little phrase can move things forward, but without

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Speaker 1: seeming rude. We have all found ourselves in conversations that

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Speaker 1: start out meaningful and then end up retreading the same

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Speaker 1: ground over and over again. Maybe your conversation partner starts

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Speaker 1: meandering when they're nervous or worked up about an issue,

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Speaker 1: or maybe they're just avoiding going to do a difficult project.

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Speaker 1: Sometimes the conversation itself is fine, but you need to

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Speaker 1: make a call, or you're trying to get out on time.

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Speaker 1: There are all sorts of reasons that a conversation needs

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Speaker 1: to be moved along, and unfortunately this can feel awkward

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Speaker 1: saying okay, I gotta go and feel abrupt. Or we

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Speaker 1: make some excuse like I have to go answer an

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Speaker 1: email that sounds not entirely authentic because when have we

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Speaker 1: ever not needed to answer an email? Or you start

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Speaker 1: trying to surreptitiously check the time. Trust me, everyone notices.

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Speaker 1: So rather than that Try this little phrase the next

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Speaker 1: time you get the chance to talk what's next for

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Speaker 1: you today? You can transition to this however you want

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Speaker 1: fascinating story, what's next for you today? Or I love

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Speaker 1: how passionate you are about this what's next for you today?

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Speaker 1: Or yes, I agree, we definitely need Kim involved in

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Speaker 1: this project. I'll send her a note what's next for

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Speaker 1: you today? This phrase does a few good things. First,

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Speaker 1: it is a fairly straightforward question. Unless you are at

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Speaker 1: a late night function, there usually is something else going

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Speaker 1: on in the day. If you're at work, or at

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Speaker 1: the bus stop, or at school pickup or at a

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Speaker 1: kids activity, there is no doubt something next in the

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Speaker 1: day for everyone. You are asking what that is. Second,

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Speaker 1: you keep the conversation focused on your partner. You are

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Speaker 1: not ending the conversation because you have something better to do.

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Speaker 1: You're just asking them what's next in their day. But

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Speaker 1: this little question prompts them to think about what's coming

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Speaker 1: up and what else they need to do. You gently

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Speaker 1: let them know that the conversation is ending. It's time

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Speaker 1: to focus on what's ahead now. It is possible that

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Speaker 1: the reason the person is lingering is because they don't

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Speaker 1: want to do whatever as next, but this trepidation might

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Speaker 1: come up, in which case you can offer support before

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Speaker 1: heading on your way. The conversation becomes more meaningful again,

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Speaker 1: which is at least better than what it was. You

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Speaker 1: could even decide to skip the today part of that

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Speaker 1: phrase if it doesn't fit well. If this is a

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Speaker 1: general getting to know you sort of conversation, asking what's

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Speaker 1: next for you without the today allows you to find

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Speaker 1: out something interesting about the person, what are their upcoming

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Speaker 1: hopes and desires? You figure out more specifically what you

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Speaker 1: can help with. That is better then conversational meandering. So

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Speaker 1: it is worth adding this phrase to your repertoire. You

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Speaker 1: can change the whole conversation quickly. If you have particular

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Speaker 1: phrases that you find helpful in conversations, please let me

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Speaker 1: know you and write to me at Laura at Laura

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Speaker 1: vander caam dot com. In the meantime, this is Laura.

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Speaker 1: Thanks for listening and here's to making the most of

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Speaker 1: our time. Hey, everybody, I'd love to hear from you.

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Speaker 1: You can send me your tips, your questions, or anything else.

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Speaker 1: Just connect with me on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram at

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Speaker 1: Before Breakfast Pod. That's b the number four, then Breakfast

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Speaker 1: p o D. You can also shoot me an email

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Speaker 1: at Before Breakfast podcast at i heeart media dot com

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Speaker 1: that Before Breakfast is spelled out with all the letters.

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Speaker 1: Thanks so much, I look forward to staying in touch.

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Speaker 1: Before Breakfast is a production of I Heart Radio. For

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Speaker 1: more podcasts from my heart Radio, visit the i heart

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Speaker 1: favorite shows. H m hm