Return the question — they’re hoping you will
When someone getting to know you asks about your weekend or your plans — answer, then ask it back. They often asked hoping to be asked.
From people’s experience shared onlinesome people found it on their own
Here’s a small secret about getting-to-know-you questions: the person asking often chose that question because it’s the one they’re hoping to answer. How was your weekend, have you seen anything good lately, are you doing anything for the holidays — answer it, and then hand it straight back.
It sounds too small to matter. One person who asks people about their weekend out of plain curiosity noticed that almost nobody returns the question anymore — people narrate their Saturday in full and stop. The rare person who finishes with and yours? stands out, not because the move is clever but because it flips the spotlight around.
The return does three jobs in three words. It keeps the conversation fed — no scrambling for a next topic, because the next topic is them. It teaches you who they are, one honest answer at a time. And it keeps the exchange from orbiting only you, which is the trap answering-without-returning builds by accident, even for modest people who’d be horrified to know it.
What about you? costs nothing, works on nearly everything, and is the entire technique. The person who asked is waiting.
Questions this step helps with
Same situation, another step
- Say hello, then let them decideSmall talk
- When you forget their name: two honest schoolsSmall talk
Often carried together
Things people often carry alongside this one.
What people worked out
Shorter, plainer notes on the same ground — each with the number of people behind it.
Full tip: https://findangel.org/tips/return-the-question/ · FindAngel.org — free, always.