Extending a conversation by text message allows you to improve your relationship with the other person, learn new things, be distracted and give yourself new opportunities. The ideal way to maintain an ongoing dialogue is to express a genuine interest in the other person so that both parties can benefit equally from the conversation.
Steps
Step 1. Ask open-ended questions
Open-ended questions that require answers other than “yes” and “no” allow the other person to give a detailed explanation, creating opportunities for new topics. For example, ask her what she likes most about her job rather than asking her whether or not she likes the job.
Step 2. Talk about common interests
Talking about shared interests is a natural way to extend the conversation, since the topic is familiar to both of you. For example, if you both enjoy watching football games, talk about your favorite players, your favorite team, and your league standings.
Step 3. Avoid talking about “elevator topics”
Conversations about superficial topics like weather or traffic can seem strained and uninteresting, bringing the conversation to a dead end.
Step 4. Avoid talking about controversial topics at first
When you're getting to know someone, avoid topics that are often viewed as controversial, such as religion, politics, and social issues. Conversations on such issues can turn negative if you have opposing points of view, which can lead to disagreement, frustration, and the end of the message conversation.
Step 5. Share what you feel at the moment
Whether it's excitement, frustration or stress, sharing what you're feeling naturally prolongs the conversation. For example, if you are dealing with a situation and you don't know how to resolve it, share your dilemma with someone else to see if they have ideas and opinions.
Step 6. Practice a technique known as breaking the conversation into threads
With this technique, you dissect a sentence, dividing it into several parts, and choose one of those parts to keep the conversation flowing. For example, if the other person sends you a message saying that the vacation in Mexico was fun because they jumped on a parachute and ate a stick, start a conversation about Mexico, about parachutes, sticks, or all of the alternatives.
Step 7. Respond to the message in exactly the same way you would respond to comments in a face-to-face conversation
In this way, the dialogue becomes authentic, meaningful and easier for both parties to understand. For example, respond to comments with meaningful questions and sentences rather than using some jargon like a simple laugh. That way, it's also possible to prevent yourself from appearing disdainful and uninterested in what the other person is talking about.
Step 8. Read the text message aloud before sending it
This way, it is possible to see if there are any typos and if the message makes sense so that the other does not get confused and stop responding.
Step 9. Focus the conversation on the other person
This is one of the most natural ways to keep a text message conversation flowing, as most people like to talk about themselves and their interests. You can ask her what her favorite movie is or what she likes to do most in her free time.
Step 10. Prefer to talk about positive, fun and joyful subjects by nature
Most people prefer to spend time talking about light and funny subjects rather than negative and depressing subjects.
Step 11. Go back to talking about issues the two of you have already discussed
This attitude demonstrates that you are an active and interested listener in the other person's life and well-being. For example, if she said she bought tickets to a show the last time you spoke, ask her how the event went.
Step 12. Start creating a list of possible topics for a conversation
This attitude prolongs conversations by allowing you to quickly change the subject when a topic ends. The next time a conversation comes to an end, take a look at your to-do list to rekindle the conversation.
Step 13. Practice larger face-to-face conversations
This exercise allows you to learn and become more comfortable with prolonging conversations in general so that you have less difficulty with texting.