Once you have a conversation started keeping it going is sometimes the hardest part. Good conversation can sometimes be hard to come by. People have a way of turning a great start into a horrible exchange that leaves everyone wanting to run away.

Learning a little bit about what to avoid and how to bring everyone into a good conversation can help you to avoid horrible situations.

The following guidelines will outline some things you should and should not do during a conversation. Using these guidelines throughout your conversations you will find that you tend to have more good conversation than bad.

Read over these guidelines and start putting them to use as you go about your day and converse with others.

1. The major point of good conversation is knowing what to say and what not to say.

This can mean both topics of conversation, but also the context. For example a conversation you would have with your best friend may not be the type of conversation you have with the cashier at the grocery store.

You should know what topics are okay to say to certain people. Knowing this will help you to avoid making someone uncomfortable.

2. Communicate with confidence.

You should not be second guessing yourself throughout the whole conversation. The best way to be confident is to stick to talking about topics you know something about.

When this is not possible because someone else brought up a topic you know nothing about then you can ask questions and take an interest. That way you will be able to continue in the conversation.

Do not try to talk about something you know nothing about. This just makes you look like a know it all who really knows nothing and shoots your creditability down.

3. Take time to listen.

Practice those listening skills you learned in grade school. Try not to take over the conversation. If you are the only one talking then you need to try to draw others into the conversation by asking them questions or introducing a topic you can all talk about.

If you always talk and never listen then you not be able to connect with others or learn about them. In other words you will not make friends because you will come off as only caring about yourself.

4. There are some topics you probably should never bring up unless you want a debate.

Most often people avoid topics like religion and politics. They just have too much room for disagreement. You can make people feel uncomfortable and even make enemies by bringing these things up.

Other topics like sex or health problems may just be in poor taste, depending on the company. Use your common sense and avoid topics that can cause problems or make others uneasy.

As soon as you are completely comfortable implementing these to do's and not to do's in your daily conversation you will discover that people will love talking with you and you may end up being more popular than ever.

Good conversation is hard to come by and once people know you are a good conversationalist then you will become the person to talk to.