Use the A.C.T. trick to start a connection

When was the last time you were in a meeting that didn’t start with small talk? It’s a natural way for people to connect. Start with a question that will build up to a conversation that meets the A.C.T. criteria:

• A - There’s authenticity
• C - There’s a connection
• T - There’s a topic that will give them taste of who you are

Some of those questions might be:

• “What’s your current state of mind?”
• “What are you looking forward to this week?”
• “You remind me of a celebrity, but I can’t remember which one — who’s someone you relate to?”

https://www.cnbc.com/2019/03/07/stop-asking-how-are-you-harvard-researchers-say-this-is-how-successful-people-make-small-talk.html