How to be good at small-talk?

Small talk is a short conversation aimed at breaking the ice, knowing more about each other and making people comfortable.

When you are able to do small talk well with others, you can effortlessly get more dates and make more friends and business partners, etc.

I want to help you have better small talks by the end of this article. I am going to keep it very actionable, so make sure you apply everything you read.

How to start a small talk?

If you are in a socially warm environment like a party, networking event, or social function, you can begin a small talk by just introducing yourself. It is that simple.

Everyone is out there to interact with someone. You can say, "Hi, I'm Sam. What's your name?"

When you are not in a socially warm environment, start with a relevant question or a compliment.

For example, If you want to talk to a person on public transport, you can ask about where they are heading. If you are at a gym, you can compliment someone's physique and start the conversation.

How to keep the small talk flowing?

Keep general questions about their motivations, goals, interests, trips, etc handy. Whenever the conversation seems to come to a dead end, ask these questions and get the ball moving again.

If you have started the conversation by introducing yourself, ask these general questions first. When they answer your questions, try to ask follow-up questions.

For example, if they tell you about their goals, you can ask them follow-up questions about why they chose such goals, what they are doing to achieve their goals, etc.

If you have started the conversation using a relevant question, then ask follow-up questions when they answer you. You can either continue the topic or change the topic using the general questions I mentioned above.

If you struggle to figure out follow-up questions, simply try to know more about the other person. It will naturally fill you up with follow-up questions.

Try to search for common topics, and you can easily have deep conversations on these topics. That's why dating apps have an interests section in their profile section.

Don't extend the small talk unnecessarily

Make sure you do not waste someone's time. If they want to leave or they seem uninterested, end the conversation and let them go.

If they show any of the below signs, understand that it is time to end the conversation.

• The feet point towards the exit.

• The body turned away from you.

• Short/low-interest replies.

Practice a lot

If you want to really nail the small talk, you should start practicing the small talk right away. I recommend that you talk with strangers as it will help you overcome the fear of talking to people.

But, believe me, most of the strangers you talk to will be interested in talking to you. If you are unsure about it, go talk to people and find out for yourself.

If you practice the tips you have just read, you will effortlessly nail the small-talks. Do practice and tell me about your experience.

That's it for this time. See you in the next article.

THE SOCIAL CODE