The single biggest turn-off in a conversation with another human being is the dreaded One-Uppsmanship.

If I tell you something and the first words out of your mouth are: "THAT'S NOTHING-" At that point, you've totally lost me. There is nothing else of value you're going to be able to say for the rest of the night.

Along the same trajectory: When trying to make a good impression, stop talking about yourself. Just don't. Unless it's AGREEING with something that person says in the effort to make yourself more relatable.

EXAMPLE: "I bought this old album by a band called Kula Shaker. I really love it."

YOU: "Oh wow, I LOVE that band." -----Now, wait a second----here's what your instinct will tell you to follow that up with:

"I've known about them for YEARS. Way before they were popular. There's this other band too that sounds a lot like them, I've been to a bunch of their shows....."

Wrong. That is the wrong way to do that.

How that conversation should actually go:

THEM: "I bought this old album by a band called Kula Shaker. I really love it."

YOU: "Oh wow, I LOVE that band. How did you find them? They're so incredible and you're like the first person I know who listens to them."

Do you see how that's different? You made the follow-up response about the other person. You asked them a question and then you subtly complimented their taste in music.

Bottom line is, if you want someone to be interested in you, you MUST be interested in them first. People assume incorrectly that you need to be INTERESTING and that's just not true. People genuinely don't give a shit what you've done until you get to know them. What people DO love is to feel like someone else finds them interesting. This is why we don't talk about ourselves unless specifically asked.

I could talk about this stuff all day and I've actually given some serious though to writing a book abou- nevermind, we can talk about me another time. Tell me about yourself.