Yeah, the pace still needs work. So many options that raise skills are gated behind other skill levels. I think the conversation system is clever, but also tedious.
Two simple changes that would help would be to give a conversation topic every time that you do an action, and not count multiples of a topic in terms of how many that you have "stored" in your inventory. So you can have dozens of "Housework" or whatever but it still only counts as one. That way (1) you get more topics to ponder early and build up your stats and (2) it doesn't become a burden to be given them for doing required actions later in the game.
I've been brainstorming similar things since reading Aioria619's comment, too. Suggestions I've come with include:
Start with each of the passive skills unlocked, in addition to your starting skills. Would make getting Communication/Concentration/Demonstration to 1 that much faster.
Make the videos system a bit more generous, so that you get a random topic every 2 or 3 times you watch one, instead of having to land on the same subject a number of times.
Have each of the Family's starting ATs begin with partial progress towards one of the interests needed to progress them, e.g. start Diane's Socialmedia, Gina's Incivility, and Becky's Fashion at 30% or something.
Start Nathan with a few more transient topics, say, 3 each from every "starting package" set, and then add the current skill starting package to that.
