Talk for Two, Please

I've been considering how much I appreciate a good "talk". This is especially true with strangers and those with whom I have little in common. It takes a certain amount of skill, I think, to maintain a conversation that flows, much less one that interests both parties. I'm getting increasingly tired of people who talk "at" me. Why do they need me if they aren't even going to attempt to involve me in the "diaglogue"? By the same token, I'd like to know that the other person isn't being burdened by my conversation. I think every good conversation has points at which one speaker can pause, and the other can put in his two cents. Perhaps he can even redirect the conversation, if he so desires....