What are some “magic phrases” worth memorizing for creating beautiful conversations?

1.  When you know little about a subject but you’re still interested, and the person knows a lot:

“I know nothing about this subject, but I’m interested and am happy to listen and learn.”

2. When you hold a particular opinion about something, but you are open-minded to reconsidering your opinion:

“This is where I stand right now. But I’m happy to change my mind if you can convince me.”

3. If you’re chatting abut trivia with someone at a party and you’ll love to move the conversation onto something better, you could say:

“Have you ever noticed how easy it is to get involved in really boring small talk at parties like this?”

They’d probably say yes. Then you could say,

“Well, that’s how I feel right now {“I feel statement}. Do you feel the same way? {inquiry?}. We’re just talking about nothing at all. I don’t know why, because I’ll bet you’re an interesting person and I’d like to get to know you a little better {stroking}.

The moment you admit that you feel bored there will be a certain electricity in the air. It’s a fairly daring statement, and your boredom will be history. The compliment “I’ll bet you’re an interesting person” is included to reassure the other person that you don’t want to put them down and that you simply want to get to know them better.  (From The Feeling Good Handbook by David Burns, p 440).