MakingSmallTalkInmostEnglish-speakingcountries,itisnormalandnecessarytomake“smalltalk”incertainsituations.Smalltalkisacasualformofconversationthat“breakstheice”orfillsanawkwardsilencebetweenpeople.Theabilitytomake‘smalltalk’ishighlyvalued.Infact,manyEnglishstudentsagreethatmakingeffectivesmalltalkismuchmoreimportantthanknowingcorrectgrammarstructures–andrightlyso!Smalltalkgetsfriendshipstartedand‘breakstheice’beforeimportantbusinessmeetingsandotherevents.Whatissmalltalk?Smalltalkispleasantconversationaboutcommoninterests.Eventhoughyoumayfeelshyusingyoursecondlanguage,itissometimesconsideredrudetosaynothing.Somakinglightinformalconversationforthesakeoftheconversationisaformofsocialskills.Insmalltalkweexpressourselvesinthedetailsofwhatwetalkabout,thewordsweuse,theoneswedon’t,howfarweleanforward,howtentativelyoraggressivelyweprobeforsharedground.WHOmakessmalltalk?Peoplewithmanydifferentrelationshipsusesmalltalk.Themostcommontypeofpeopletousesmalltalkarethosewhodonotknoweachotheratall.Itisalsocommontopeoplewhoareonlyacquaintances,oftencalleda“friendofafriend”,tousesmalltalk.Otherpeoplewhohaveshortcasualconversationsareofficeemployeeswhomaynotbegoodfriendsbutworkinthesamedepartment.Customerservicerepresentatives,waitresses,hairdressersandreceptionistsoftenmakesmalltalkwithcustomers.WHATdopeoplemakesmalltalkabout?www.softheme.comOutsourcingtoSoftheme™Training:MakingSmallTalkWHENdopeoplemakesmalltalk?WHYdopeoplemakesmalltalk?Thereareafewdifferentreasonswhypeopleusesmalltalk:TobreakanuncomfortablesilenceTofilltimeTobepoliteSmallTalk:ConversationStartersHowtoImproveSmallTalkSkillsUsetheInternettogainspecificvocabularyThisisrelatedtodoingresearchaboutotherpeople.Ifyouhaveabusinessmeeting,oraremeetingpeoplewhosharecommoninterest(abasketballteam,atourgroupinterestedinart,etc.),takeadvantageoftheInternettolearnspecificvocabulary.AlmostallbusinessandinterestgroupshaveglossariesontheInternetexplainingthemostimportantjargonrelatedtotheirbusinessoractivity.Askyour