The Art of doing Small Talks!

Not many people realize but doing small talks is a very important part of today’s business world, specially if you are attending any kind of networking events. Anyone who is fluent with this skill can easily start a conversation with an unknown person in the room, while others who tend to keep them away from small talks tend to find themselves in awkward situations when in a room full of unknown people.

So, the question arises that is this skill is learnable? Based on my observations, it is… provided you have the knowledge of asking the right questions to a right person.

Often people tend to start a conversation with Sports or Weather, however, find it a bit difficult when it comes to keeping up with the conversation or rather blend it into a business conversation. Here are a few alternatives I would suggest.

Pursue more universal topics for having a conversation like professions, hometown or hobbies/activities etc. as there are the subjects that everyone can respond to.

Moreover, asking the right questions and setting the flow of the conversation also plays an important role in setting the tone of the conversation

You might want to start the conversation by asking a broad, general question about the topic and following it up with a more focused questions to drill down the topic. Also, it becomes equally important to offer some information of your own, based on what the person has told you, then end with a quick fourth question.

This formula works well because:

• Firstly, it engages the person you're talking to.
• Second, you’re signaling that you're genuinely interested in the person and what they're saying.
• Because you go beyond the superficial, you're able to make a real connection, which is the foundation for starting a relationship.