Icebreakers

Parlez with the Hoi Polloi and Make Your Chatter Matter, With 150 Conversation Starters for Every Occasion, from First Dates to Last Orders.

Silence is seldom misquoted, but it's also easily misinterpreted. Being a wallflower might keep you out of trouble, but it also keeps you out of the in-crowd. It's okay, you don't need to stay long; just long enough to make an impression.

No more awkward pauses! The ice won't break itself, but most people are merely waiting for that to happen. Step out of the background - most people want you to take the lead. That way they can blame you if it all goes wrong. It's human nature but you can use it. After all, fortune favours the bold.

Learn how to elegantly impose yourself with C.P. Sharpe's Icebreakers: 150 questions for every situation, from dating to dining, from casual get-togethers to formal gatherings. Draw from an arsenal of posers that are both silly and serious, personal and pertinent, where the conversation has already been started for you.

C.P. Sharpe knows all about social anxiety and not knowing what to say. Being the one to create the awkward silence only makes it worse. Get to know the people around you better, from loved ones and friends to colleagues and acquaintances, to some of the faces you don't even like.

Categories include Skills to Personal Preference, Random to Personal Opinion, and Thoughtful to Just Plain Personal. Each question has a pre-written answer, as though you were talking to the author. You can give your own response, or you can pass off his answer as your own (he'll never know.) If you've ever felt embarrassed about the dark corners of your own inner world, just download this book and feel better that you don't live in the author's.

Read all 262 pages to yourself or read them out loud, C.P. Sharpe's Icebreakers will be your escort to any event, and you won't even need to leave a tip.

(Although the contents are in no way explicit, the issues raised and subjects discussed are certainly aimed at discerning adults, so in that sense, this book is not recommended for minors.)