How interesting! I took a similar course in the late 80's, based on Dale Carnegie's courses for salespeople. The main point was that most people err by talking about their own personal interests. Everyone has to work to overcome this tendency. To be considered interesting, you need to figure out what interests the other person, and avoid talking about what interests you (unless it's mutual). The list of topics that interest most people was something like this:
1. Their family, home, kids
2. Health
3. Job
4. Advancement
5. Personal growth [maybe "financial independence" falls in this lane?]
6. Clothes (for women), sports (for men)
7. Recreation
8. Travel
9. The opposite sex
If my experience is any guide, I would put sports, and cars, much higher on the list for men [I have never met a man who doesn't like cars], and "the personal life of public figures" higher on the list for everybody (suspect the latter wasn't such a big deal in the 80's). Also, people seem to love to talk about food.
Looking back on what I just wrote, it's clear what an awful darn lot of work socializing can be! No wonder some of us would rather stay home with a book.
Amethyst