Not having anything to say during a conversation

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22 Jun 2017, 5:41 pm

random23 wrote:
I generally enjoy participating in conversations, but I often have the problem that I can't come up with anything meaningful to say. I tend to quickly run out of topics and when that happens I get very uncomfortable because I can't stand that awkward silence (when it's just one person and me). When being in a group, I'm often the one who kind of drops out of the conversation because I either can't keep up with what's being said (especially if several people talk about different things at the same time) or because I'm not familiar with the topics being discussed. It makes me feel a bit empty as well as isolated from the "social world", which has become worse in the last years given that I got tired of playing computer games and that I don't have the feeling of belonging anywhere. I want to find my place in this world, but I don't really know how to go about it yet. This forum seems to be a good start though. :)
Does anyone of you guys have similar experiences or problems? What would you do in a situation like this?


Exactly the same problem. When I'm in a group, by the time I come up with a comment or joke, the conversation has moved on. I love just being quiet and letting nature do the talking. Maybe you can find some friends to go hiking or fishing with? Something that attracts the less chatty type of person, who just likes to stfu and be still and quiet?


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TheWarrior
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22 Jun 2017, 9:54 pm

My mind goes blank whenever I'm supposed to say something.

That sucks... that really sucks.



SpreadsheetMaster
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28 Jun 2017, 10:01 am

One solution could be to go out and have more experiences and get involved in things other people are talking about so you'll have more to say. It clashes with ASD's limited interests, but that's what other people do. I have that problem as well in group conversations. Roughly half the time I have little to nothing to say.



Rogue257
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29 Jun 2017, 12:49 pm

Force yourself. I've had these situations loads of times, but if you turn the conversation somewhere new then you can go off in a totally new direction and end up talking for a lot longer than you think. Obviously how far you can take it varies from person to person but if it's someone you know even relatively then you can easily take the conversation somewhere.

Obviously just be careful not to go off on a tangent and talk too much, and don't force it if there really isn't anything there, but you'd be surprised where a conversation can go if you just push it that little bit more

Funnily enough, I always seem to have better conversations when they're unplanned - if I see someone I know and think "Right, I'm gonna have a long conversation with this person" then chances are I wouldn't, because I'd be putting pressure on it and if it wasn't going to plan it would throw me off. On the flip side, If I see someone and I'm just thinking I'll go and say hi to them then I'll end up chatting longer than I expected a lot of the time.

TL;DR - just wing it. Try and take it forward if you can, you'll be surprised where conversations can go if you just put that little bit more effort in, just know when to stop. It's not rocket science.



twills599
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09 Jul 2017, 12:35 am

I feel that same way a lot of the time. I don't even message friends anymore out of fear of not knowing what to talk about. I'm extremely shy and embarrassed by the possibility of making a fool of myself. It sucks but I'm glad to know I'm not the only one with this problem.



shortfatbalduglyman
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09 Jul 2017, 9:18 pm

I feel that same way a lot of the time. I don't even message friends anymore out of fear of not knowing what to talk about. I'm extremely shy and embarrassed by the possibility of making a fool of myself. It sucks but I'm glad to know I'm not the only one with this problem.
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same except i ain't got no precious lil "friends" anyways.

what is there to talk about anyways?

if you say or do something they like they say "cool" or "good".

if you say something they say or do something they do not like they say "why?". as if the are receptive to an answer if it is a good answer. but there ain't no good answer. and then they act like you have to justify everything to their satisfaction. either that, or you have to apologize and fix it.

seriously precious lil "people" have humungous egos.

"Not having anything to say during a conversation"?

maybe that's b/c you filter out some things.

some precious lil "people" are so full of themselves they do not filter things out.

they say they "can't" do something, when they do not want to. then they peer pressure you to do whatever they want. they are unwilling to wait for anything, even for the light to turn green.
"not having anything to say during a conversation?"



Victor1985
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13 Jul 2017, 3:56 pm

I think the problem is having too much of a filter as opposed to having no filter. The filter won't let anything come out sometimes, its quite paralysing.


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13 Jul 2017, 4:04 pm

This always happens with me. I once had lunch with two other people I knew, but the other two didn't know each other. They eventually got into this conversation about all these topics that I couldn't keep up with, and soon I just left the table without them saying anything to me. It really sucks.



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19 Jul 2017, 12:56 pm

This almost always happens to me. It happens less at school, since I can just talk about what happened that day in classes, but I really struggle to maintain conversation a significant part of the time. Luckily, I have found one friend who also struggles with conversation and understands. There are a lot of weird pauses and silences in our conversations, but our personalities go together well, I guess :D.


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Victor1985
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19 Jul 2017, 1:11 pm

At the autism group I sometimes attend as the feeling takes me, there are long pauses sometimes, but it's never an "awkward" silence, it's refreshing.


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19 Jul 2017, 1:17 pm

Victor1985 wrote:
At the autism group I sometimes attend as the feeling takes me, there are long pauses sometimes, but it's never an "awkward" silence, it's refreshing.


I agree, it is quite refreshing :D .


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24 Feb 2019, 1:36 pm

It happens to me almost every time I have a conversation.



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24 Feb 2019, 8:15 pm

random23 wrote:
I generally enjoy participating in conversations, but I often have the problem that I can't come up with anything meaningful to say. I tend to quickly run out of topics and when that happens I get very uncomfortable because I can't stand that awkward silence (when it's just one person and me).

This happens to be quite often. What's particularly discouraging, is when I do think of something to say, oftentimes the conversation has moved onto another topic. My mind goes, "but wait, I have something to add to the topic that you were just talking about". But, I have learned -- particularly in group settings -- that once the conversation has moved onto a new topic, the participants usually do not like revisiting that topic. I have learned to be content just listening and following the conversation.

As a note, I have no issues conversing on topics that I have deep familiarity with. As an example, I can talk (and talk) about my work for hours without stopping. It's somewhat unsettling (that I am unable to the same, with unstructured settings -- which effectively is what a social conversation is). Then again, it is what it is.



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28 Feb 2019, 5:33 pm

I know this all too well.


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