No, it’s not fine.

I’m not fine.

The world’s not fine. Nobody is “fine.” 
Who decided that the word “fine” was going to be the go-to descriptive for our status at any given moment? Seriously, it ranks up there with “nice” as a pale, tasteless cheese of a non-descriptive that offers nothing more than a courteous place holder.  

While it’s true that giving a detailed and chronological list of everything that is wrong or right with us at the moment, might not be appropriate, when asked the inevitable question “How are you,” we can offer a bit more color and texture to our conversations than the standard “fine.”

In a world where we strive for genuine connection, can’t we offer each other something more descriptive and relatable than a nice word like fine?

In my ongoing efforts to grow great conversations, I’ve put together a “response aid.” It’s a chart that will allow you to respond with panache, accuracy and relatability. 

All you have to do is pick one action word from Column A, use a word from Column B to join it with a noun or descriptive from Column C, and voila, you have a conversation starter (or ender) like no other. 

For example:

How are you?

Well, I’m upright and spicy.

How are you?

Growing into my life. 

How are you?

Running through fires my friend.

How are you?

Living and popping. (Not to be confused with pooping, as that’s a very different conversation.)

Never again do you have to resort to the limp, dead fish handshake that is “fine.” You can create a confident connection with other humans using a bit of humor and purposefully making small and magnificent word choices. 

Now isn’t that nice.

LB Adams is the Founder of Practical Dramatics, headquartered in Charleston, SC, providing interactive, theatre-based communication skills training.  She is the author of The Irreverent Guide to Spectacular Communication, available in paperback, ebook and audiobook.