Talking cannot be any stranger

Talking requires an audience. We talk everyday in different ways to different people. Hence the saying 見人說人話見鬼說鬼話。We talk differently to students compared to colleagues, to friends or to parents, or even when talking to our pets, there's a change of tone. 

It's a curious process. How one phrases the question will decide the other's respond or willingness to share. Human are instinctively defensive. If we sense a judgement in the sentence it simply shuts one off from sharing.

If a sentence itself is open enough to show genuine interest in the other party's thoughts we're inviting him or her to reveal more. 

And how easy it is to fall into the trap that talking is about sharing one's thoughts and opinions. Sometimes it's really about listening and validating the other party. 

But of course, the best form of talking is where both parties sort out a common understanding. It would spur the growth of wisdom, when both parties are challenged intellectually and emotionally. Dialogue, they call it.

Talking cannot be any stranger.