Doesn&#x27;t seem to matter whether the author already knew that she had a knack for talking to strangers without appearing crazy, or held with the &quot;general assumption&quot; and was genuinely surprised when the experiment turned out well. The important thing is that it worked!<p>Now, perhaps it will not work so well for every person. Perhaps in the general case people will instead recoil in horror at being approached nicely for small interesting favours. Perhaps a more universal lesson to take away from this is that success is more likely if you play to your strengths, and push every advantage at your disposal. The author is a Cambridge Law graduate, so one might safely presume reasonably skilled at speaking - I&#x27;m not exactly sure how surprised she was that she could engage strangers in professional conversation at a coffee shop - but the experiment is available for others to replicate! I&#x27;m not sure what parameters would have to be changed for the interaction to take on a &quot;dramatically different character&quot; though, maybe don&#x27;t get drunk beforehand.