Ask for the slide show
The upside of looking at people's pictures
Back in the olden days, people used to create slide shows of their vacation photos. It was something of a running joke that people would be invited over to a friend’s house, and then be ambushed with a slide show of their recent vacation to Hawaii, featuring 10 shots of the airplane wing alone. One can imagine these friends trying desperately to escape!
Most people don’t do slide shows like that anymore. But…people do take pictures. And thanks to smart phones, people always have pictures with them. And most people would still like to share pictures of what they love.
So…why not ask for the slide show? If your co-worker tells you that her sister just had a baby, ask to see pictures. You can do the same if she tells you that her neighbor got a puppy or if she’s regaling you with tales of renovating her back porch. Modern sorts have photos of all these things. So, ask to see them — “ooh, I love roses, do you have a picture of your garden?” or “oh, my neighbor growing up had a poodle too, do you have a picture?”
A request for the slide show does a few things. First, it shows your companion that you are truly interested in them. You’re not looking for an excuse to get away. You are voluntarily extending the small talk by at least a minute or two.
But — upside for you — the small talk might actually become more interesting. Pictures can nudge a bit of story telling. That photo of your colleague’s niece brings up that she used to live near her sister in Boston and then she can tell you a little about that. Or the photo of the back porch renovation can bring up a story of the best BBQ your colleague ever attended. And then you can share a local restaurant recommendation — perhaps a BBQ joint that is pretty good, maybe not the best ever, but a good substitute until she gets that back porch grill and smoker up and working.
In any case, asking to see a photo will only extend a conversation by a little bit. But it will make the person feel much more valued and give you insight in to the other person’s life. Next time she mentions Bennie the poodle you can picture the dog in your mind. People take photos of everything these days. Why not get the whole picture by asking to see them?
In other news: Have you ever wanted to try tracking your time? I’m running my annual Time Tracking Challenge next week. Lots of us will be tracking our time together from January 13-January 20. I’ll be posting my time logs on my blog. You can sign up via my website to get daily motivational emails from me. I promise it will be interesting to see where the time really goes!