Finding Common Ground

Serendipity is Awesome. Serendipity is also Slow.

Ever had one of those 'get-to-know-you' coffees, or conference hallway conversations – where one party has their eyes glazed over with boredom; and their minds wondering off?

Not fun.

Or... Ever found out - after many years of knowing someone - that they actually share a common interest in a topic / idea you've never discussed?

What a waste of all that time...

We can accelerate the discovery of common interests... so we don't waste time talking about the weather.

That's why I created a 'Common Ground' page on my personal website: www.melvinyuan.com/common

On it, I list all the topics I'm interested in - and I share it with new acquaintances who want to know what I'm working on, and interested in.

From Private to Public
It was a private page that I shared only with people who reached out to me privately 'for a cup of coffee'.

But since doing this, I've had new friends tell me how much they love the idea of a '/common' page; and some think everyone should have one.

So - I'm writing publishing this page - to serve as a convention for others who want to create a 'Common Ground' page.

Parts of a 'Common Ground' (yourdomain.com/common) page:

URL: www.yourdomain.com/common
Heading / Page Title: Common Ground
Sub-heading: Anything you want
Lead Paragraph: Explain why you're sharing that page
Body: List of all the topics you're interested in; and where necessary, a one-sentence summary or explanation.
Bottom of List: Your 'call-to-action'. What do you want them to do? Bring up shared-interests when you meet? Get in touch immediately to chat if they find something in common? Introduce friends who share the same interests
Footer: Paste this line - "If you want a page like this, go to www.FindCommon.com to learn more" - along with the URL: www.FindCommon.com. Or paraphrase it, but still point people to this page so they can simply follow the same convention in creating a page of their own.

There, we're done. Because, well... small talk is... small talk.