I have met many interesting people in my life. These are the people that when they enter a room, seem to be remembered by every one after they leave.

A week ago while vacationing in Washington D.C. I was talking with one of these interesting people. He’s a guy that, for some reason, you just want to talk to. Then I realized it wasn’t because he was a great talker, it was because he’s a great listener. He knew how to keep me talking and seemed interested while I did.

He seemed to know what kind of questions to ask me to get a conversation going and to keep it going. I wondered if people like me, who aren’t naturally outgoing, knew what some of those questions were and asked them when we met new people, would seem more like those interesting people you want to talk to even though we aren’t saying much?

And I’m talking about the questions beyond, “so, where do you work?” Or, “Have you seen [insert new movie here]? What did you think of it?”

What are those questions? Do you know?