Tools for Success

Talk to strangers

Forget what your parents told you when you were a kid. Instead, it’s OK to talk to strangers. In fact, it’s downright necessary.

“Learning, skill-building and enhancing community well-being can be achieved as soon as you start talking to strangers,” writes John Horn in his blog, The Potentiality.

A talent passed down by his grandmother, Horn says being able to speak well is the most important skill one can develop, and talking to strangers is a fabulous way to get good at it.

Horn is the manager of learning and leadership of Vancity Savings, and a co-founder of The Potentiality, a blog to help you realize the your potential at home, school, work and in your neighbourhood. Read his observations on how talking to strangers will enrich your career here.