* According to Esquire, which offers some tongue-in-cheek advice in the August issue about how to be smarter, luckier, more charming, more creative -- even better looking.You can't take this stuff seriously -- "four pages of tips and guidance guaranteed to lead to a taller, funnier, better-breathing you" -- but I suppose there's a kernel of truth in at least a few of these.
My attention was drawn to No. 9 ... Be More Interesting.
The headline: It's all in your conversation.
Some rules:
1. Listen more than you talk.
2. If you notice yourself getting bored with what you're saying, stop talking. Acknowledge the situation. Smile. Move on.
3. Know a few historical anecdotes. Like this one: To enhance creativity, surrealist painter Salvador Dalí recommended afternoon naps lasting less than a second. He would lie in his chair, arms outstretched, holding a metal key in his left hand. As he drifted off to sleep, his grip would relax and the key would fall, clanging onto a plate he'd set beneath it and waking him up.
4. But realize that no one likes the guy who knows something about everything.
5. Let people talk over you. Don't think of it as being rude; think of it as an assist.
6. If someone does interrupt you, wait to be prompted before continuing your story. It's a good sign that someone cared in the first place.
7. Drawn-out pauses are the best time for personal non sequiturs. People would rather listen to you talk about yourself than nothing.
8. With people you don't know, limit stories to the last five minutes of your life — the turnout, the Scotch selection, the homeless man you mistakenly took for a valet.
9. Never mention your blog.
Ha! If I'd been drinking anything, I would have spit it out on No. 9. Too funny.Photo of Salvador Dali: Shepard Sherbell/Corbis
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