How You Can Benefit From a Conversation on an Airplane

The Talk2MorePeople Canadian Tour began before it began. On the flight from Calgary to Toronto, I met Jess who I greatly enjoyed speaking with for about an hour before we both passed on on the early flight.

This was such a gift to me because at the time I was seriously doubting that I had made the right decision to take this trip and to start this project. This is because I have a habit of taking spontaneous adventures in my life that have almost always been amazing, but have come at some cost in certain areas of my life.

She introduced me to a number of great ideas and I shared some of my life experience with her as well. In our short time talking, we were both taking notes of things to look up and different ideas to explore. Here is one that I think is quite important that she shared with me. In this TED Talk, Eli Pariser speaks about Echo Chambers – also known as “filter bubbles” – how the internet is so curated for us now that we are all just seeing more of what is similar to our opinions – and why this is a problem.

The reason that our conversation was such a gift for me is that she was able to shake me out of my own self-doubt and to just “go for it” despite my doubts. Jess is very knowledgeable about social innovation and seemed to be exactly the right person to sit next to me on that plane at that time. To be honest, when we were getting onto the 6am flight from Calgary, I was in no mood to talk.

I share this story as an example of how a chance conversation with a random stranger can really make an impact. Because since that conversation, I have indeed decided to move forward with this Talk2MorePeople Canadian Tour and that has great potential to encourage others to make more connections. And making more connections is one way people can improve their lives, find more fulfilling work, or even find a wonderful life partner.

So once again, thank you so much Jess for the encouragement. I look forward to a future conversation down the road.

The next time you are on a flight and someone offers you the opportunity to have a conversation, do yourself a favour and take them up on it. You never know how it might change or improve your life.

 

Tony Esteves is an international speaker, MC, facilitator and performer who brings play back into the workplace. He is a published author and a performer with Le Cirque de la Nuit – a Calgary based circus. Tony has recently concluded his 1 year social experiment called, Talk2MorePeople. This project aims to illustrate and prove the value of meeting new people through face-to-face conversations. Here is an article from CBC Radio about the project. 

Connect with Tony for a meaningful face-to-face conversation.

Facebook.com/talk2morepeople

Talk2MorePeople.com