polite openers
So, the other day I noticed something interesting about myself when I go shopping or run errands. Whenever I need to speak to strangers, whether it’s staff in a shop to find what I need or people on the street to ask for directions, I have to start the conversation with a question.
Now, my goal in those moments is always simple: to start politely and make my request clear. Usually, I’ll make eye contact, smile, sometimes even give a little wave to get their attention, and then I’ll ask my question, most often starting with “Excuse me…”
But here’s the thing. I’ve realised I sometimes hesitate, even just for a second, and I catch myself feeling slightly unsure whether I sound polite enough.
Still, the good news is that it works. I do get what I need, whether it’s buying coffee beans in a café or asking where an item is in Sainsbury’s. The conversations go fine, but I can tell there’s room for me to improve.
So afterwards, I reflected on it. I thought maybe I should mix up my openers a bit, not always rely on “Excuse me,” but have a few other natural phrases ready. And with ChatGPT’s help, I actually came up with some new, polite, and more vivid sentence starters. That’s given me more confidence, and now I feel more prepared for the next time I need to approach a stranger.