There is no greater mood enhancer than conversation with another person. It's a holiday from yourself, richer and more dynamic than hearing a good song, reading a funny story, or blasting monsters to pixel smithereens on your computer" - Catherine Blyth, author of The Art Of Conversation.

Don't say: off ten | Do say: offen

DON'T pronounce the [t]! This is an exception to the

rule that spelling helps pronunciation. It's also an

example of hyper-correct speaking.

Good ideas are everywhere, but too often they're not shared

so others can benefit from them. This new feature is an

invitation to you subscribers to share good ideas you've come

across that could improve the lives of readers in health,

finances, learning, or personal development.

Here's a good one I found last week: The Elderberries

An elderly disabled woman founded this monthly lunch

club for lonely men and women in their retirement years.

Said the current host: "It is very difficult to socialise on your

own so we started this once a month where people can just

come together." Starting with only 6 persons, this

Elderberries group now averages 30 each month.

Question: Could your church or service club create

such a lunch social group in your community?

"It was impossible to get a conversation going; everybody was talking too much."

Yogi Berra

Example sentence:

"Donald offered a miry explanation for how he used

the money, and no one understood him clearly."

"No one can go back and make a brand new start. Anyone can

start from now and make a brand new ending."

-- Source Unknown

Many commentators have expressed despair that the art of

conversation was dying or dead, having been replaced by

electronic communication like email, Facebook, and Twitter.

One expert concluded that college students prefer text messages to phone conversations with parents, perhaps because texting is less personal.

What to do? Here are some practical ideas that center

on placing yourself in conversation-rich environments.

Conversation Caf©

Join or host a Conversation Cafe at some restaurant or coffee house in your town. The website and organizing hosts for www.conversationcafe.org has been moved to Richmond, VA and is once again up and running with lots of resources for

anyone who wants to start such a group. No dues or fixed memberships, only quality talk with a group of interesting people. Check it out.

Lunch and Learn groups.

These groups are often coordinated by someone in the workplace but can be held with any group. Example: One person skilled in digital photography is invited to present an informal program in any handy meeting room during a mid-day break. Attendees bring bag lunches. Or a group of folks with a common interest like raising orchids could come together and share ideas. You can use Craigslist.com to post free notices, or you can invite folks with www.evite.com.

The focus is reading materials about, then discussing issues of interest in your community. The materials are a-political and provide a background on whatever issues you decide to discuss.

A wide variety of people attend to engage others in quality talk. A local talk-show host started this event and continues to announce it. They meet in various pleasant venues, usually hotels.

The key to resuscitate the dying art of conversation is to make

intelligent conversation the purpose of getting together.

You can "talk above the noise" of the many distractions like

TV, video games, or blaring music.

When I grew up before television, conversation was the

entertainment for adults. On a Saturday evening, couples

would gather over cake and coffee and talk about their

lives and times, reminisce, and even tell stories. If you

manage the way you get together with friends, you can

also have a good time with conversation as the focus.

Here's what can happen if the electronic distractions are absent. (On the craft of conversation in the small nation of Cuba):

"Cuba is one of the last places with a high-density of living with no consumer based advertising. The Internet is not available to everyone that lives there and therefore in order to find stuff, most locals need to speak to each other to work out what, where, when, how, why etc, for almost everything. The result is a culture based on listening and speaking in the flesh. The craft of conversation is alive and well in this part of the world.

No wonder everyone's dancing in Cuba."

Words this issue: 1202 Est. Reading Time: 4 minutes Conversation Quotation Pronounce-a-thon. Good Ideas Jest Words Word-a-Week Words of Inspiration Article: Ways to Resuscitate the Art of Conversation

Loren Ekroth ©2010, all rights reserved

Loren Ekroth, Ph.D. is a specialist in human communication and a national expert on conversation for business and social life.