Weinberg Sophomore Sets Personal Record for Conversations Won
EVANSTON, Il. — Weinberg Sophomore Jonathon Keller is praising himself today after setting a personal record for consecutive conversations won.
Keller’s streak began on the afternoon of October October 23rd, when he notched a notch a victory during a conversation about the relative strengths of Busch Light and Pabst Blue Ribbon. The conversation, which Keller won by bringing up his own marginally related experiences, set the stage for a historic run.
Over the next 36 hours, Keller won 14 more conversations and lost none, according to his own complex scoring system. Keller attributes his victories to his general conversational prowess, as well as his years of arduous practice.
“During the streak, I really felt like I could just point the conversation in whichever way I wanted” Keller said. “Nothing was off limits. I just said anything I wanted to say, and people had no choice but to come along with me.”
He did all this while giving almost no opportunity for his conversation partners to get a point in, meaning that many of his wins came in a landslide fashion.
“Obviously there’s more to conversation than just offense” Keller said, grinning. “You have to be strong on defense too. Cutting people off, changing the direction of the conversation, and building on your ideas to a ludicrous degree are all essential tactics if you want to be a great conversationalist.”
Keller’s streak eventually came to an end, after he was unable to get the last word in during a conversation about diversity on campus. Still, the streak is a great source of pride for Jonathon.
“I put in a lot of work for this streak. Years and years of disregarding others people’s points, bringing up non-sequiturs, and screaming over anyone who tried to talk to me finally paid off. It’s really a great, yet psychologically concerning, feeling.”
