Question

I recently realized how much I use the phrase "The funny thing is..." in my conversations. I often use this to start my sentences when I think it is interesting. Please help me improve this.

Answer 1

What is amusing is that.....

Answer 2

Some good phrases to start a new topic would be stuff like:
"You know..."
You don't have to end "you know" as a question at the end of a sentence, you can actually start a conversation with it.
"That reminds me of..."
"it's interesting because..."
"It's cool because..."

In some cases you can even just say "Also" and use it was a bridge between 1 topic into another. Just make sure to only use "Also" when you are changing the subject and want to talk about something different.