With the onset of fall, people retreat indoors to connect with their family and friends for the holidays. However, it is important that we maintain another kind of connection – our connection with strangers. Below are some proven benefits of talking to strangers.

IMPROVED HEALTH

Humans are wired to connect, and this connection affects our health. Recent research shows that feeling connected can help people maintain a healthy body mass index, control blood sugars, improve cancer survival, decrease cardiovascular mortality, decrease depressive symptoms, mitigate post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms, and improve overall mental health. Talking to a stranger is your first step towards improved connection and well-being!

YOU BECOME HAPPIER

A U Chicago Study found that people mistakenly believe other people don’t want to be approached for conversation. Yet, if they actually do approach people, they are much happier because of it. So, next time you feel hesitant to strike up a conversation with a stranger, take a deep breath, smile, and just say hi. You might be surprised by how much happier you feel!

HEIGHTENED SENSE OF BELONGING

Casual connections with people we encounter in the course of daily life can give us a sense of belonging to a community. They also inspire us to venture beyond our comfort zones. Next time you’re out, strike up a conversation with a neighbor or shopkeeper.

INCREASED EMPATHY

Talking to someone else and stepping into their world can increase your empathy for others and make you feel more spiritually connected to humanity as a whole.

HELPS YOU GET UNSTUCK

If you talk to a stranger, you are more present, because you are in a new situation. It can help you “get unstuck” from your current mental state and see the world in new ways.

Try these simple ways to become more approachable and invite in more opportunities for Big Talk!

Smile and make eye contact

Look people directly in the eye with a sincere smile, and you will be surprised by what kinds of conversations and interactions your warmth will invite!

Ask their name, then repeat it

When you meet someone new, immediately ask their name. Then repeat it back to them and introduce yourself. People love to hear the sound of their name and it helps them to feel seen and heard.

Stop rushing around

If you look busy or in a rush, nobody will have time to stop and talk to you. Stop living your life as if it is a constant emergency… Instead, slow down and notice the people in the world around you. The person you usually rush past on your way to work could end up becoming a close neighbor and friend.

Go to places where people are happy

You’re more likely to meet people in places where people go to enjoy leisure time. That includes parks, beaches, live concerts, meetups, and classes. Happy people are more open to approaching each other because they have already set their egos and worries aside.

Do things someone can ask you about

If you’re engaged in an activity, it makes it easier for someone to ask you a question about it. For example, you could be walking your dog, reading a new book, painting or playing music in the park, or trying out a new gadget or piece of athletic equipment. Doing something interesting yourself will naturally spark the curiosity of others and invite engagement.

Play with friends, family, dating interests, travel buddies, coworkers, classmates, students, and more! You can also use these as daily self-reflection questions.

Download on the App Store or Google Play.

As we navigate our way through the 21st century, our experts on human psychology and socialization have been pointing to the steady emergence of a new type of crisis—a crisis of social connection. Although we live in an age where connecting with someone on the other side of the globe can be done with the press of a button, people all over the world are expressing an uncomfortable sense of loneliness in their lives. 

Even more disconcerting is the fact that loneliness can hurt us on a cellular level, and reduce our lifespans.

What can we do to fight off this epidemic? The United Kingdom and Japan have begun to develop a plan.

A Unique Solution

The UK’s Prime Minister has long had positions in their cabinet like the Minister of Health and the Minister of State for Housing. But in 2018, former Prime Minister Teresa May introduced a new ministry position in an effort to address a rapidly emerging crisis of loneliness in the country. Thus, the Minister for Loneliness was established. The decision to create this new position was based on alarming new data suggesting that about 9 million people in the UK often felt lonely, as well as a mounting body of evidence suggesting that loneliness can impact our health and lifespan.

So far, the various people to take up the position have taken a series of actions. In 2017, a report was compiled, which characterized the severity of the situation, emphasized a call for action on the part of the UK’s government, and outlined potential ways to address this newly recognized public health epidemic. 2018 saw the government take their first big step when they launched the inaugural loneliness strategy, which laid out a plan of action. It included measures like the development of reimagined community spaces, public health campaigns, and the framework to improve social services. In the following years, the #LetsTalkLoneliness campaign was developed and millions of Pounds were funneled into the cause.

Japan appointed a Minister of Loneliness in response to rising suicide rates.

Similarly, in response to worrying figures on suicide and social withdrawal, Japan welcomed its first Minister of Loneliness in 2021. 

The idea of a Minister for Loneliness feels promising, but we’ve yet to see how much of an impact the position will truly have on UK citizens’ levels of loneliness. If it proves to be effective, perhaps it can stand as a beacon for other countries, encouraging them to face their own crises of social connection. The United States, for instance, has been seeing a steady increase in expressions of loneliness—a statistic that has only been made worse by the pandemic. Recent reports indicate that around 3 in 5 Americans would describe themselves as lacking companionship, which has been partially attributed to our changing workplace culture.

What if My Country Doesn’t Have a Minister For Loneliness?

While your country may not have its own public official to address social isolation for some time, there are plenty of resources and tools out there that can help you and the people around you start living a more connected life. After all, we are wired to connect. The best place to start is to be involved in more meaningful conversations in our daily lives. Recent research into the impacts of taking part in small talk vs having substantive conversations with others has shown a heightened sense of well-being in the latter. With this knowledge, the question then becomes: How do I begin having deeper conversations?

The first step would be to try and place yourself in more situations where meaningful conversations could arise, like using Meetup to join a local group of people with similar interests as yourself. But even just being around others more often might only lead to more small talk if not approached in the right way, which can be especially difficult for more introverted people to navigate. For those situations where you are with new or unfamiliar people that you would like to develop a deeper connection with, Big Talk can be your go-to tool for success. The questions were created to help people open up with each other and feel more comfortable discussing the subjects that really matter to them. Below are a few more simple suggestions for fighting loneliness:

• Close your computer/phone and go outside. Connect with nature and the world around you.
• Smile at people and say hello.
• Call someone you miss even if you think they might be busy.
• Sign up for a regular class, interest group, or meetup.
• Involve yourself in a passion project.
• Practice gratitude and put your life in perspective. Journal.
• Skip the small talk and make Big Talk. Replace “How are you?” with more substantive questions.

For more info on how to bring Big Talk into your life, check out our socials (Facebook & Instagram), and feel free to contact us with any questions!

“The organizations of the future that people will be the most excited to work for will be those that foster supportive social ties for those in the room and also those that are not.” (HBR, 2021)

It’s not easy to make a meaningful connection with someone you only know through a screen. However, with the world opening up, there are opportunities to re-engage with your coworkers in a hybrid workplace model. How we choose to rebuild those connections is up to us. 

We all miss aspects of our lives pre 2020. Some will reemerge, but others will profoundly shift – especially those aspects related to work. With around 1 in 4 Americans projected to work fully remotely in 2021 after the pandemic, home offices and video calls have replaced open offices and meeting rooms as the new norm. For many of us, working from home has had a host of benefits, from skipping the daily commute to dressing more comfortably while on the clock. It’s no surprise that two-thirds of remote employees would like to continue working from home, even as quarantine restrictions are lifted and vaccines are administered all over the country. 

Employers are finding ways to accommodate these preferences. However, many employees, employers, and companies are suffering from digital malaise especially during this remote world re-order. How do we stay meaningfully connected even when we are physically distant? How do we build bridges to each other and increase human awareness and understanding?

The Hybrid Approach

A widely discussed solution to workers’ hesitancy about returning to the office is for companies to establish a hybrid workplace. This situation would require employees to split their time between the physical and virtual office spaces each week. The reasoning behind this middle-ground approach is that it would give employees the flexibility and comfort of working from home, while also encouraging stronger connections between coworkers. Although the hybrid workplace aims for the best of both worlds, it comes with its own set of potential issues.

Potential Concerns

A lot needs to change to make the hybrid model work. Without human interaction, culture becomes difficult to maintain. Morale and retention can suffer. Furthermore, recent insights into the impact that working from home can have on our mental health and overall well-being are giving cause for concern. As the days of in-person interaction with our coworkers seem to be slipping away, people are feeling increasingly isolated and disconnected from their teams. Spending a few hours each week in the office isn’t likely to help maintain the social relationships and team building that an entirely in-person office can nurture. We need to begin seriously re-thinking the way we build relationships and communicate in meaningful ways while at the office.

There are incredible technological solutions that can help make hybrid work, but at the same time, there must be intentionality around how we use them – especially to help foster meaningful relationships. Video calls with your teammates can be a great opportunity to spark conversations that allow everyone to open up. However, these meetings all-too-often begin awkwardly while people wait for everyone else to join the virtual room. Then, after the subject at hand has been discussed, it’s not unusual for the call to end abruptly with a brief wave and goodbye. These stiff, rushed interactions can be devoid of the social formalities and nuances that humans have developed over thousands of years—the result being that people are left feeling uncomfortable and socially distant.

How Can We Fix This?

Big Talk wants to help make the hybrid model work. We aim to help address these gaps in interpersonal relationships that will result from hybrid models. 

Although creating small talk around what everyone did over the weekend can lead to some discussion, it usually dies off pretty fast. Instead, try asking teammates some of the meaningful questions from your Big Talk cards, or those topics and activities suggested through the Big Talk for Work application (coming soon).

Some examples of Big Talk Questions you can ask include:

• What have you been curious about lately?
• What is something new you have recently tried and enjoyed?
• If you could freeze time today, what would you do during those uninterrupted moments?
• What are you struggling with at work lately? Is there any way I can help?

These questions were developed specifically to create open and honest conversations, which draw more interest since they encourage discussion about meaningful and personal topics. More importantly, Big Talk questions are universal, so that everyone on your team can feel connected and relate. 

For the smooth integration of Big Talk questions into your video calls, try setting up a plan with your coworkers to reserve the first or last five minutes of the call for some deeper conversation. Big Talk questions can even be brought into the hiring and onboarding process to help your company conduct more in-depth interviews and training.

On the days when your team is in the building, Big Talk can help facilitate interactions that may otherwise feel awkward or stale. During your offsites – prime times when coworkers are physically present, maximize the opportunity for creating stronger connections during these social activities by fostering active empathetic listening and encouraging non-work related conversations that go beyond small talk. Set the groundwork by introducing concepts of curiosity, intentionality, alignment, and vulnerability. These conversations will form the groundwork to help your team form stronger bonds whether you are connecting on or offline. 

The Need to Adapt

As break rooms shift to chat rooms, and as private messages replace watercooler conversations, it seems that a hybrid office will be the workplace of the future. Knowing that, it’s up to us and our employers to begin adapting work culture into something fit for the post-pandemic era. Something that should address the novel issues presented by a partially remote work environment. In a year when people are interacting with their coworkers less on average, carving out extra time to establish meaningful moments at work is vital to fostering the sense of belonging that most of us crave when it comes to our careers.

More Info on Big Talk

For an easy way to begin feeling reconnected at work, we encourage you to check out Big Talk. If you’re already working in—or are about to shift to—a hybrid workplace, shoot us a message and we can work on bringing Big Talk learning programs into your workplace!

Our first in-person Big Talk event after a year of social distancing! We asked strangers to stop by and skip the small talk to answer: “What do you want to do before you die?”

Young children, the elderly, and people from around the world participated.

It felt special to connect in person again and see people’s handwriting after a year of typing.

Huge thanks to the Big Talk intern team for making this all happen: Serenity Islam Angelica Zdzienicki Gage Greenspan

We filmed some videos and got some meaningful stories and laughs as well!

It was a beautiful day at Laguna Beach. Where should we do an interactive pop-up next?

P.S. Please follow Big Talk on Linkedin, YouTube, and Instagram for more exciting stranger videos and educational content for work coming soon! Or sign-up for our newsletter! 

After a year of limited socializing, you are feeling ready to skip the small talk and reconnect with people.

Maybe you have an upcoming work function or family gathering, and you want to make sure it is a meaningful experience. Perhaps you just got your own pack of Big Talk cards delivered and are excited to try them out…So now what? Unlike other card games, apps, and communication tools, Big Talk doesn’t come with a lengthy rule book—or any set rules, for that matter. You won’t find yourself reading instructions aloud, hoping everyone is following along. Using Big Talk is as simple as asking a meaningful question. To help you find the best way to bring Big Talk into your life, here are 6 favorite suggestions:

1. With Yourself – Start Your Day by Reflecting on a Big Talk Question

Odds are you’ve heard of the calendars where you rip off a page each day to reveal a new joke, inspiring quote, or even a Shakespearean insult. But have you tried it the Big Talk way? Every morning, look at the top card of the deck and take a minute to ask yourself that question. It can be an excellent way to pause for a personal, reflective moment. Asking yourself daily Big Talk questions can help you focus on your goals and wellbeing for the rest of the day.

2. With Romantic Interests – A Deeper More Memorable Date Night

Do you dread having to come up with small talk while you’re on a date? It can make you feel more nervous and is ultimately not very helpful for establishing anything more than a surface-level connection. Bringing Big Talk into play gives you and your date the opportunity for an exciting, intimate activity that will allow you and your partner to create a deeper, more meaningful connection.

3. With Coworkers or Community Peers – Use as an Ice Breaker

When you’re organizing your next event—whether it’s for a school club, community gathering, or work function—bust out Big Talk as the ice breaker. We recommend creating smaller groups of around 3-6 people (depending on the size of the event), to give everyone the opportunity to answer some Big Talk questions. The meaningful conversations that follow can lead to stronger interpersonal connections and a more comfortable atmosphere.

4. With Students and Teachers– Your New Favorite Classroom Activity

Take Big Talk to school with you! Ask your favorite teacher if your class can start off the day by answering Big Talk questions. Not only can these discussions create better connections between classmates, but they are also a fantastic way to jump-start everyone’s critical thinking skills, leading to more attentiveness and eagerness to participate in class activities.

5. With Family and Friends – Switch up Game Night

If you and your friends/family have a recurring game night, try introducing Big Talk the next time everyone meets up. Although encouraging deep discussions might not be what the group is used to from game night, it can be a worthwhile opportunity. You may learn things about your friends and family that you wouldn’t have known without asking Big Talk questions. Once everyone has had this chance to open up with their loved ones, then the night can get back to your crew’s usual game of Monopoly, Cards Against Humanity, or DnD with everyone feeling just a little more connected than when they arrived.

6. With Strangers and New Acquaintances – Make More Meaningful Connections Right Away

Whether you’re befriending someone at the bus stop, at your hostel or bed and breakfast, or at dinner with 10 strangers, bring out Big Talk. Chances are, you might learn more about someone in five minutes, than after knowing them for months or even years!

*One way to help facilitate Big Talk is through the Big Talk Question Card Game.

Stay tuned for our new Big Talk Question app and Big Talk for Work Program – Coming soon!

What makes you feel most alive? Where do you find peace when times get hard? What are you curious about lately? Who do you need to get in touch with because it’s been too long? 

– “Big Talk” moves past small talk to facilitate more meaningful conversations through questions that are open-ended, universal, and elicit stories. 

As we emerge from our battle with a global pandemic, we face another set of challenges – one rooted far more deeply in our culture. Division. Alienation. Disconnect. We saw these tensions come to a head in 2020: glued to our screens, we watched as the barriers that divide us — from racial to political, from socioeconomic to generational – forced us further and further apart. 

It’s no surprise that people feel lonely and more alienated than ever. But it’s critical to remember that the end of COVID-19 doesn’t mean we’ll resolve those feelings overnight: Many of us grappled with isolation and loneliness even before we were confined to our homes. We’ve all longed for meaningful connection and wrestled with feeling like we don’t belong in our nearest communities. 

These feelings are especially prominent in our daily working environments, despite research suggesting that employees care more deeply about their workplace community than ever. Without meaningful relationships built on sincere and substantive communication, employees struggle to feel like they are seen or heard at work. Trust, psychological safety, and belonging, critical features of highly engaged workplaces, are nearly impossible to achieve when people aren’t sharing their authentic selves. 

That’s where Big Talk comes in. Although our world has suffered fissures in human connection, relationships aren’t immune to repair. Big Talk is deeply dedicated to helping people in communities move past small talk to build more meaningful relationships. 

Big Talk aims to address the following societal needs:

1. Belonging and Connection: Big Talk will create programs for employees and members of communities to foster a deeper sense of connection and belonging. 
2. Division and Empathy: Big Talk’s approach to conversation encourages individuals to relate to each other in ways that celebrate humanity, bridge divides, and foster empathy.
3. Loneliness and Isolation: Big Talk helps us share our most vulnerable selves with each another to form authentic, sustainable relationships and eliminate loneliness. 

This past year alone, Big Talk led programs for U.S. veterans, prisoners, female entrepreneurs, and university students around the world – 

We’re now focused on the workplace. 

Leveraging organizational psychology and subject matter expertise, Big Talk embeds behaviors and habits into workplace culture that transform everyday interactions into opportunities for deeper connections. Big Talk provides the tools and resources necessary to strengthen the individual voices of all members of a community, empowering everyone to join the conversation. 

The result? A professional environment characterized by trust, belonging, and psychological safety; workplaces where, instead of relying on small talk, employees strive for Big Talk.

Follow us to skip the small talk and make Big Talk instead.

Here are some highlights for Big Talk in 2020!

1. News Features about Big Talk in Forbes (36 Questions to help you Live Longer), LA Times, Voyage LA, and Today.com.

2. Virtual Events for Veteran Rites, Bridges in Tennessee, Twine, IG Live with Justin Jesso and Leigh Miron, Northwestern University, William Angliss Institute Australia, U.S. State Department, The Riveter, the Chicago Women’s Exchange, Palisades High School, and more!

3. Stories from Big Talk Road Trip across America, Big Talk Coffee Shop.

4. Testimonials: A new Big Talk marriage proposal, Native American organization makes Big Talk, Harvard Medical School makes Big Talk – 

..and so much more! Looking forward to 2021!

150 future doctors “made Big Talk,” for Harvard Medical School’s 2020 new student orientation. Last year, students participated in the Big Talk activity in person. However this year, programming was virtual. Students were first played the “Big Talk Before I die…” video. They were then split into breakout groups of 7-8 individuals, where they discussed the following Big Talk questions:

• What would you try if you could not fail?
• If you could travel back in time to a specific moment, when would it be and why?
• What is your proudest moment?
• How do you recharge?
• What is something you are not doing enough of?
• If you had 24 hours to live, what would you do?
• What have you started but never finished, why?
• What can you do today that you couldn’t do a year ago?
• What is something you have been curious about lately?

One student commented, “Big Talk helped a LOT to break down potential barriers and make us all feel a lot more comfortable. The breakout group strategy was helpful in that it gave each of us a lot of choice about what we wanted to share with the group and how vulnerable we wanted to be, which worked out beautifully as people really started to open up over the course of the discussion, providing a great foundation for subsequent reflective sessions in our first week.”

This article was originally published in Forbes. Check it out! “36 Questions to Help You Live Longer” By Kalina Silverman and Diana Rau

2020 marks the 82nd year that researchers at Harvard University began following 724 college age men as part of the longest running study in history on human development. Their objective? To determine what factors lead to healthy and happy lives. Key results suggest that happiness and health do not result from fame and fortune. Instead, as the Director of the Harvard Study of Adult Development Robert Waldinger put it, the clearest message to emerge is, “Good relationships keep us happier and healthier. Period.”

Based on converging findings from this study along with several others reporting related results, we designed 36 questions to spark conversations to help you deepen your present relationships and build meaningful new ones — which in turn may help you live a happier, healthier, and longer life!

Build Strong Relationships

“Close relationships…are better predictors of long and happy lives than social class, IQ, or even genes.” – Harvard study on adult development. Our first set of questions is dedicated to sparking conversations that may help you strengthen your relationships. 

1. How many close friends do you have that you could turn to in a crisis?

2. Is there anyone you would like to have a closer relationship with? How might you create a closer relationship with them?

3. If your relationships were flowers in a garden, which ones are blooming from care? Which ones are withering away from lack of attention?

4. Are you afraid of letting others get close to you? Why?

5. Who in your life do you trust the most and what did it take to build that trust?

6. What places or communities do you turn to for peace and comfort?

7. What do you do to create a strong community that you can call your own?

8. Are there any relationships that matter to you that you’re unhappy in?

9. If you could choose one person you could strengthen or improve your relationship with, who would that be? What’s a small action you can take today to do that?

Live Your Purpose

Research from University College London found that people with a greater sense of purpose in life lived longer than those with the lowest sense of purpose.

10. What is your purpose in life? What are you meant to do in this world?

11. What do you do daily that strongly aligns with your sense of purpose? What doesn’t align?

12. What have been your greatest failures? What have they been preparing you for?

13. What, to you, is a life worth living? Reflecting on the last week, what comes to mind as moments where you felt strongly you were living your best life? What are moments when you felt you were wasting life?

Help and Support Others

A study conducted with the elderly showed those who helped others lived longer lives.

14. How are you helping others? How can you do more to help others?

15. If you could change one thing about the world, what would it be?

16. When was the last time you served someone at great cost to yourself without keeping track of the cost?

17. In what ways are you using your gifts to help others? In what ways are you not?

18. What causes are you most passionate about?

19. How have your difficulties equipped you to serve others?

Laugh Often

Researchers from Norway found that women who rated high for humor had a 48 percent lower risk of death from all causes.

20. Who is the funniest person you know? What makes them funny?

21. What made you laugh or smile today?

Stay Young At Heart

Research from University College London showed people who felt younger had a lower death rate than those who felt their own age or older.

22. What activities make you feel younger? 

23. What was an activity that brought you incredible joy as a child that you don’t do anymore?

24. What have you learned recently from someone from a younger generation than you?

25. Do you seek to cultivate friendships with people of all different age groups? What do you find most rewarding from your friendships with people younger than you?

26. How are you getting better every day?

Nurture Optimism

A Harvard study found the most optimistic people had a 16 percent lower risk of death from cancer, a 38 percent lower risk of death from heart disease and respiratory disease, and a 39 percent lower risk of dying from stroke

27. What are you excited about? What gives you hope? What are you optimistic about?

28. Can you share a personal experience that has given you hope in humanity?

29. Think of some negative things that happened to you recently. What were the silver linings?

Never Lose Your Sense of Wonder

Research from UC Berkeley shows that experiencing awe can actually impact health by reducing inflammation and lowering the risk of diabetes, heart disease, and Alzheimer’s.

30. What gives you a sense of awe?

31. What’s one thing you experienced recently that made you feel a sense of wonder or awe?

Practice Gratitude

Studies from the University of Pennsylvania and many others have shown that gratitude is strongly and consistently associated with greater happiness.

32. What are you most grateful about in your life right now?

33. Who are 3 people you’re grateful for? Why?

34. How do you practice gratitude in your everyday life?

35. What about today has been better than yesterday?

36. What choices have you made in the last five years that you’d thank yourself for making?

This article is the brainchild of Kalina Silverman, founder of BIG TALK & Diana Rau, cofounder of twine. Together, we’re hosting LIVE, short video convos between amazing humans from around the world on the 36 Questions above, to help us ALL live longer. 👉🏾 Join us for conversations, happening now!

A Big Talk journal is a great way to have a deep conversation with yourself and reset your mind. Download here: www.bit.ly/bigtalkjournal

My motto during this quarantine and time of encouraging social isolation is inspired by Christopher McCandless’s (Into the Wild) realization after living in social isolation for 114 days: “Happiness is only real when shared.” And as we struggle at home through the anxieties that quarantine life may present us, Anna Draper’s sentiment in Mad Men also strikes a chord with me: “The only thing keeping you from being happy is the belief that you are alone. ” Despite this temporary period of “social isolation” we are all going through, we are actually experiencing an unprecedented reign of global social solidarity and togetherness!

I’m often reminded that loneliness kills. Compassion saves lives. So please remember, no matter what you’re going through right now, you are very far from being alone. We can use this opportunity to check in on one another, build new relationships, and strengthen existing ones in spite of physical social distancing.

I am happy and relieved that most people I know are so far healthy, in some sort of company and safe with access to food and shelter (see below this article some ways to help those who aren’t). While we are together alone, here is a list of “Big Talk” questions we can ask our quarantine buddies at home/while on a walk – or friends, family, lovers, classmates, and co-workers over video calls (perhaps people we haven’t caught up with, in a while) to help us remain hopeful, connected, reflective, and strong:  

• What are you looking forward to?
• What have you started but never finished, and why?
• How can you care for others right now? Who in this world do you love most and what are you doing about it?
• What curiosities can you explore from the comfort and safety of your home? What’s something you have always wanted to try that now would be a good time to try? 
• What gives you hope?
• What does this world need more of? How can you help?
• Where do you find peace?
• What little things in life do you take the time to stop and appreciate?
• What have you witnessed that has strengthened your faith in humanity?
• What is your greatest strength? 
• What do you fight for?

So far the only known model to prevent the spread of Corona is serious social distancing. But humans are meant to be social! So here are ideas that have worked for me that might work for you to help you continue to deepen and diversify your relationships – to become more socially involved while isolated:

• Writing/illustrating hand-written cards and letters to loved ones and friends far away (or even in your own city since you can’t see them in person)
• Hosting virtual happy hours, brunches with your best friend group or coworkers
• Calling an old mentor or teacher and soaking in life wisdom!
• Talking and engaging with local people and workers you do come into contact with; I asked my cashier at Chick-fil-A what’s keeping her going, and she broke out into a big smile and showed me her best dance moves – the highlight of my day! I struck up a conversation with my mail woman and we talked about our families. I bonded with my Uber driver over music and he said our conversation inspired him to take up the piano. 
• Sometimes, cuddling next to your quarantine circle – I love sitting in bed and watching comedy / funny memes with my sister and laughing our ears off.
• Cooking new meals with friends and family (the other night we made home-made Chinese dumplings, and I see my friends post the yummiest meals on social media)
• Painting and making art – My friends in Australia and I have a FB group where we share a new watercolor piece each week
• Taking lots of walks! – Six feet apart or with your quarantine buddies or alone to clear your head or call a faraway friend/family member
• Singing and playing piano/guitar – My dad and I sang Karaoke songs from the ‘60s… and early 2000’s the other night and had a blast!

I’ve found that taking part in these activities has shown me that we don’t need a lot of material things when it comes down to it – We just need each other!

Regardless of race, socioeconomic status, workplace hierarchy, geography, religion – we are all going through this unprecedented time together, experiencing similar life changes, and likely sharing common feelings. We have the same fears, concerns, coping mechanisms, and joys. Perhaps the kindest thing we can do right now is radiate hope, humor, inspiration, and compassion towards each other, and continue to strengthen our social solidarity and knowledge so that we can prepare for whatever comes next!

Some Big Talk related things I’m working on during this time:

1. Sign up for a virtual Big Talk event hosted by the Riveter on Wednesday the 15th at 3 PM PST.
2. The Big Talk Question Card Game is 20% off on Amazon (It’s great to play at home during quarantine or over Facetime or co-worker coffee chats).
3. I’d love to continue to hear your stories shared through the Big Talk community on FB or @makebigtalk on Instagram

***For those who are less fortunate and more preoccupied with survival, there are programs to help people feed their children and save small businesses. If you are financially secure, consider donating to your local food bank / feedingamerica, buying gift cards to your favorite small businesses, or donating blood (there is a critical need right now), among other ideas. 

On the UN’s “International Day of the Girl, St. Catherine’s School in Richmond, Virginia hosted a special day of celebration for 1000 teenage girls. Kalina was invited to speak about Big Talk and how it can enhance building more open and meaningful relationships both at school and at home. After the speaking portion of the event, girls “made Big Talk” in their homerooms and wrote down and shared their own Big Talk questions with one another.

Watch

6/9/2019 – The US Embassy in Tashkent, Uzbekistan hosted Kalina Silverman to present Big Talk to exchange alumni and local audience members at GroundZero Kitob Olami. Guests learned how to “make Big Talk,” answered Big Talk questions in small groups, shared videos and personal stories out loud, and wrote their own unique Big Talk questions.

See more 

In May, Kalina attended Fulbright Ambassador congressional meetings on Capitol Hill in Washington DC to present the Fulbright project “Establishing cross-culture empathy through Big Talk” to senators and representatives. She was able to gift the Senator of Delaware’s office a set of Big Talk cards to use at their staff retreat, and Senator Dick Durbin tweeted a photo from the meeting!

Big Talk themed meetups have been held around the world. Check out some of the ones in:

Hamburg, Germany
Charleston, South Carolina
Smyrna, Georgia
Perth, Australia

Forbe’s features Kalina’s Quora response to “How can we make more meaningful connections with people we’ve just met?”

Read here.