Post: #1

Roosh advocates reading a book every 2 weeks to improve conversational skills. But does an avid reader really make an interesting speaker

Surely we`ve all heard the stereotype of the socially awkward bookworm.

Anyways, I`m a non-reader and coincidentally also bad at `rambling`.

I`ve started reading Game of Thrones because the show was really entertaining.. But will these types of books (nerdy fantasy - not to mention they speak in a different manner than us), or some books that Roosh reviewed, like the history of WW2, make good conversational fodder.

What kind of books do you read for the express purpose of conversational fodder - like a book with an entertaining story, not `How to speak better to strangers`

Post: #2

I've always considered myself to be a good speaker, not sure how much of that comes from being an avid lifelong reader. That said, I read 2-4 books per month and it frequently makes for excellent conversational fodder.

Post: #3

Anyone here read "Conversationally Speaking"? I'm wondering if it's a good book, worth reading, and whether it will help a guy out with his verbal game?

Post: #4

(06-03-2012 05:43 PM)OGNorCal707 Wrote:  Anyone here read "Conversationally Speaking"? I'm wondering if it's a good book, worth reading, and whether it will help a guy out with his verbal game?

I read it. A lot of it is basic(Asking the right type of questions, delivering honest praise, how to listen well) but I would still recommend it. I definitely picked up some good tips.

Post: #5

not necessarily

Post: #6

I think no.

I've always read a lot of books, but was a shit conversationalist until I made a habit of regularly talking to people.

Post: #7

Books improve the material you draw upon to hold a conversation, it allows you to be more than just a talker. It does not however make you a good conversationalist.

Post: #8

5 Books

Books thread

Start here. The first is really on game theory and power. Starting books for all men. The second link is just a books thread that members have been reading.

I don't read books but always read current events. I am on the computer for 8 hours a day so I have to kill time somehow. Current events are great talking point to move conversation along. Hope this helps.

Post: #9

What Vicious said. It gives you content but you still need to practice ways of delivering that content.

No content + no conversational skills = really bad

Content + no conversational skills = bad

Content + conversational skills =

Reading a book on how to play tennis will only improve your tennis skills if you practice what you read. But it won't magically improve your swing.

Post: #10

take comedy routines and memorize them. deliver them in front of a mirror and record them, or video tape them. work on your body language as well.

memorize story telling structures and make a habit of getting structure and pacing, pausing, etc.

imitation, then innovation.

Post: #11

I'm weak in the content area as well. More often than not i find myself running out of things to say.

So i bought a Kindle Touch 3G recently and loaded it with books. Game of Thrones series, Iain M Banks, 48 Laws of Power (even though i have the hard copy), Freakonomics and SuperFreakonomics (good subjects to link economics and weird topics = great conversation fodder)... I'm building my library faster than I can read it, so now i'm slowing down and devouring the content.

I'm on my fourth book within 2 weeks after reading Plato's Republic, Game of Thrones book 1, Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemmingway, now brushing up on Freakonomics.

I love my Kindle

Post: #12

Guys with game can talk about anything and it will be attractive to women. I think it isn't so much what you talk about but rather the way you speak.

Do you project confidence? Are you funny? Do you appear nervous? Body language? Vibe?

These things are often more important then our conversational content.

I think the most important thing is too be funny. The guy who is funny has a better chance of getting laid then the guy who knows everything. The guy who can successfully make fun of everyone else is better off then the guy who is more knowledgeable then everyone else.

I always say...If you can't get laid, how smart are you?

Post: #13

I think game should be listed as a type of intelligence (like on Howard Gardner's list).

Post: #14

It can depend on what sort of content you're reading. With a lot of writers before around 1950, their stuff really helps out with my internal game and gives me tons of solid examples of smooth natural conversation and how to dance around human emotion.

Filling your head with Cosmo, on the other hand, is just gonna screw you up.

Post: #15

It wouldn't hurt you to read. You might actually enjoy it. I've learned a lot about people and myself by studying psychology.
You can apply it to anything in everyday life. Family, relationships, work ....etc.

Only good can come from reading books.

Post: #16

Relevant... I saw an interview with Anthony Bourdain a while ago. In it, he was discussing fans that ask him how he "became such a good writer" and similar questions.

Bourdain posits that his writing, which is quite appreciated in certain circles, comes from his tendency to write the same as he might speak. He's not over-thinking it or sugar-coating it. He's not trying to overtly intellectualize his writing. He's just saying what's on his mind.

Post: #17

Books don't help with conversational skills (aside from giving you content) but it certainly helps with writing skills. The more I read the stronger a writer I become. I learn new vocabulary, new ideas, and more effective ways to present my thoughts.

Post: #18

(02-19-2014 12:00 AM)Hencredible Casanova Wrote:  Books don't help with conversational skills (aside from giving you content) but it certainly helps with writing skills. The more I read the stronger a writer I become. I learn new vocabulary, new ideas, and more effective ways to present my thoughts.

In On Writing, Stephen King says the key to becoming a proficient writer is... reading and writing a lot.

I didn't read books on a regular basis for a couple of years, and my writing skills have gone to shit.

Post: #19

You'll be a better speaker if you are talking about something that you actually KNOW about and have EXPERIENCED firsthand or at least are knowledgeable about. Because you have lived it, you speak with absolute conviction and certainty which draws people in. Plus if you feel what you have to say is interesting, so will they.

If you want to be a better conversationalist, go out and make it a habit to talk to strangers (anyone and everyone, you can learn something from everybody) and just get comfortable chatting people up. If you feel comfortable and at ease, you're having fun and enjoying yourself, so will they. When you're in a meditative state, you are present to the moment and have disengaged thought, the words and subcommunications will flow out of you.

Eventually you want to get deathly comfortable saying nothing but just looking deeply into a girl's eyes and resting in the sexual tension, this is when you've cultivated masculine polarity. You don't need to be talking all the time, let her worry about keeping YOUR attention.

Post: #20

People are like fractals. If you think you know them you don't.

You can always go deeper and find out new stuff.

Post: #21

Yes,a lot.Women like scripts.

Post: #22

One time i read this book (Brazilian title : O grande mentecapto)
i fell in love with it, re-reading it everyday, the main character had an amazing conversational skill, erudite mixed with typical Minas Gerais colloquy, very funny yet charming


(picture of a stereotypical Minas Gerais Citizen)

Point is i was unconsciously mimicking the main character(Viramundo) lexicon and syntax (specially with text conversation), actually, this is how i got my first girlfriend (i was 15 yrs old), she was my classmate, i didn't knew of game back then, it was at end year vacation, i wasn't even in the same city,there was nothing much to do at my aunt house, so i started MSN chatting with this girl i rarely talked with

But i sucessfully text gamed hard this chick while copying viramundo style, she wasn't just attracted to me , she fell in love with me right away (she was the lonely type girl), when the vacation was over and we went back to school, we were already dating (it started online, this was common back then)

so reading this one book in my youth improved so much my communication skills and overall life i even got my first girlfriend