Public Speaking Filter: I've been asked to speak in front of a very large group at a public rally tomorrow. I'm excited, but I've never done this before. Help! [more inside]
posted by inatizzy on Aug 29, 2009 - 29 answers

An intern at work is dressing very inappropriately. Is there any way I can tell her nicely to tone it down? [more inside]
posted by anonymous on Jun 21, 2009 - 45 answers

Where to meet people in Seattle before i start work? [more inside]
posted by Black_Umbrella on Jun 7, 2009 - 5 answers

I'm trying to re-find a TED talk where the presented made many references to the time "3am". This was from a couple of years ago. Does anyone remember which talk this was?
posted by tasty on May 6, 2009 - 3 answers

Help me streamline my phone needs. How can Google Talk help me in real life? [more inside]
posted by Thrillhouse on Mar 25, 2009 - 10 answers

What are your favorite conversation-fodder movies? [more inside]
posted by harwons on Feb 1, 2009 - 42 answers

[How] Should I tell my parents, now I'm a healthy adult, about my longstanding depression? [more inside]
posted by the agents of KAOS on Nov 27, 2008 - 31 answers

Please help me find the most tactful way to deal with a coworker who never shuts up. Long ranty details follow. [more inside]
posted by Solomon on Nov 22, 2008 - 29 answers

What's the best way to react to a socially awkward situation? [more inside]
posted by gregb1007 on Aug 24, 2008 - 13 answers

TalkingFilter : How to talk less ?. This goes to all the ones who have considered themselves extravert (verbally extravert, not necessarily always surrounded with large groups) at a certain point, then realized it was more than exhausting : How did it happen ? if it was related to personal issues, was there any key event/epiphany that changed this habbit so hard to quit ? [more inside]
posted by Jireel on May 3, 2008 - 7 answers

I'm preparing an exposition (a talk) for a class about blogs in general and their use in education. What should I include on it? Resources and research about the topic would be very helpful. [more inside]
posted by Memo on Apr 25, 2008 - 4 answers

I've been invited to speak at an event - for an entire hour. How can I keep the audience awake? [more inside]
posted by so_necessary on Jan 9, 2008 - 21 answers

How can I cultivate / find deeper conversations with people? In university it was always easy to find people ready to talk about philosophy, politics, psychology, etc. But now, as I have gotten older and supplanted myself into the corporate world, the art of conversation seems to have been lost. It would appear that most people are resigned to talking about kids, jobs, and pop culture. Am I just in the wrong social circles or does this type of small talk permeate our culture? I long to attend a French salon or dinner party whose primary purpose is the art of conversation. Where can I find groups of people who like engaging, face-to-face conversation? How can I steer people away from talking about what they saw on CNN and towards something with a little more substance?
posted by kaizen on Dec 31, 2007 - 23 answers

Help me make my first professional research presentation at a national conference! [more inside]
posted by acridrabbit on Oct 29, 2007 - 19 answers

What happened to character-by-character chat? I miss the intimacy, subtle nuances of meaning, and most of all the ability to interrupt one another and complete one another's sentences that was inherent in old-school unix 'talk'. How can I replicate this nowadays? [more inside]
posted by dmd on May 21, 2007 - 21 answers

How can I export my Google Talk "Chats" from Gmail? [more inside]
posted by hoverboards don't work on water on May 8, 2007 - 6 answers

How can I extend the Google Talk's idle time status change? [more inside]
posted by Leech on Feb 23, 2007 - 6 answers

Is it possible to totally or selectively disable keyboard shortcuts in Google Talk? A hyperactive F11 key likes to initiate unwanted voice calls. Irritating!
posted by pullayup on Dec 13, 2006 - 4 answers

Talking Too Much: Help me stop. [more inside]
posted by mynameismandab on Oct 7, 2006 - 22 answers

Situation: 16.5 year old son, ripe with hormones. Also ADD & PDD-NOS, as well as depressed, which make him impulsive, resistant to authority, and Not So Good at social cues. He's sending sexually explicit text messages to a girl, who's apparently willing to go right along. Even if we we permissive [I am, his bio parents aren't] he's not ready for it. How do we talk to him? [more inside]
posted by eridanis on Sep 18, 2006 - 45 answers

Has anyone out there heard "The John Batchelor Show" on the radio, and if so can they characterize it in terms of content and quality? [more inside]
posted by hwestiii on Apr 9, 2006 - 1 answer

What are some of your favorite ways to say "hello" and "bye"? [more inside]
posted by Sharcho on Nov 9, 2005 - 55 answers

When meeting new people, how do you avoid the interview-style boring questions? (How old are you? Where did you grow up? Do you work or study? ...) [more inside]
posted by Sharcho on Oct 12, 2005 - 32 answers

Here's the background. My girlfriend is from the republic of Ireland. I am antipodean. We both live in the United Kingdom. I am 33, partially sighted (although I lead a very main-stream life and have no disabled friends). I say the part about me being partially sighted because I believe it's a big part of what has made me ME and given me a slightly odd-shaped perspective compared to mainstream western society. My gf is 36. Our relationsip is about 18 months old and seems to suddenly be coming apart. Two main parts of this seem to be 1) the fact that she seems completely unable to discuss / articulate her feelings or accept any kind of responsibility for them and 2) she appears to be trying to drive my friends away. To the unsuspecting, this may seem like an obvious case of incompatibility. It is however similar to what hapened in my previous relationship of five years. The question: I want to know if anyone else has had the same experience and if so and if they managed to drag things off the rocks, how they worked with their partner to go about it? [more inside]
posted by azure on Sep 20, 2005 - 30 answers

Why do so many people say "Thank you for taking my call" when phoning radio talk shows?
posted by crosten on Jul 18, 2005 - 16 answers

His name is Dave Dunston. Or possibly Dunson. Or possibly some other variant that sounds similar; I've never seen it written. He is, or perhaps was, a British air traffic controller. Many years ago he gave a talk on air traffic control, and commercial aircraft in general, to a group of British bankers. Somehow it got recorded, and was broadcast on Max Ferguson's show on the CBC. It is definitely one of the funniest things I have ever heard. I managed to tape it, but the old cassette technology is dying a speedy death. I want another copy, preferably on a more dependable medium. Has anybody heard of this guy? Does anybody know how, or if, this air traffic control talk recording was released? Somehow it got into Max Ferguson's paws; I want it in mine.
posted by DrJohnEvans on May 11, 2004 - 8 answers