"[My biggest networking challenge is] starting conversations with all levels of people, from Ministers, Chief Executives down."

The day before I got this comment from a reader, I had a conversation with someone about exactly this topic!

She said she felt intimidated talking with people more knowledgeable than her.

But in social situations she said she didn't have a problem starting conversations with people.

"What's the difference?" I asked.

It turns out that in social contexts, this person starts talking with people about topics that are of interest to her.

In this case, it doesn't matter if the other person is more knowledgeable about it or not. In fact, more knowledgeable is probably better, since she is curious about the topic and wants to know more!

In business contexts, she assumes that the topic of conversation must be business related.

And often, she is among people who are specialists or experts in their field. Given her assumption that she must talk about work-related stuff, she feels tongue-tied.

After all, what could she possibly say to a lawyer about law that won't make her look and feel inadequate?

So I asked her, "How did you come up with this assumption that you should only talk about business related stuff in business contexts? Based on what?"

She looked at me for a while. Then she sat back, looking relieved!

If starting conversations with people is a challenge for you, whether in a business or social context, what assumptions are you making about such conversations?