Striking up a conversation—especially with a stranger—is a lot like adding kindling to a fire pit and hoping it ignites.

Forget fear of public speaking. A lot of people now shy away completely from speaking to anyone in public. But if we learn to do this it’s enriching, for ourselves and society ...

Gillian Sandstrom, an associate professor of psychology at the University of Sussex and author of the upcoming book “Once ...

On a typical day, you experience numerous fleeting exchanges with people you don’t know, often without a word: a quick smile of acknowledgement as someone holds the door, a moment of eye contact to ...