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10 Best and Worst Small Talk Topics
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Tips For Participating Group Conversations
Always establish eye contact, smile, and introduce yourself first. Then listen and remember the names of the other people in the group.
To remember people's names, focus, repeat the name, think of someone you know with that name, use the name in conversation, and say it again when leaving a conversation.
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Making Small Talk
Small talk topics are the best source of conversation between people who don't know each other well. Learning to make small talk can help to build your confidence so that you can be less anxious, make connections, and develop your social skills.
A way to alleviate anxiety is to prepare for common topics. Making small talk involves not only knowing what to say and what not to say but persisting on overcoming your urge to avoid it altogether.
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Notes On Small Talk
- The goal of small talk is to build a bridge between people. Subject is irrelevant, as long as you have one.
- Focus on what you'd like to learn about others and things you enjoy talking about.
- Ask follow-up questions and listen between the lines as well.
- Do not bring up emotionally upsetting topics.
- Avoid having one-sided conversations. If no one else knows or is interested in what you’re talking about, don't go into detail about it.
- The best small talk topics are those to which everyone can relate.
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Good Topics For Small Talk
- Weather: Major weather events or the immediate weather are good picks.
- Popular and interesting arts and entertainment topics.
- Sports: good way for strangers to connect.
- Daily news: from your city and the world.
- Family: this teaches you a lot about someone in a short period of time.
- Job: If your work is hard to explain, consider keeping business cards in your wallet.
- Vacations: if you travel, prepare to answer questions and give opinions about the places you have visited.
- Travel: people love to talk about their favorite spots and what they recommend.
- Popular celebrities.
- Hobbies: people like to talk about theirs and may be interested in yours.
- Hometowns: are a common subject, so have interesting anecdotes to tell.
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Bad Topics For Small Talk
- Questions about salary are often considered intrusive and inappropriate.
- Avoid talking about politics and religion, as many have strongly held opinions about it.
- Sexuality, age, appearance, past relationships and death are also very heartfelt and intimate topics.
- Gossip about people that you know personally is best avoided
- Keep sensitive jokes for your best friends or replace them with jokes that don't have time and place restrictions.
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The associative memory
We all experience, from time to time, issues with our memory. Involuntarily, we end up forgetting things, such as people's names, after having met for the first time.
One trait that we...
Tips to remember people's names
Whenever you find yourself in the difficulty of not remembering somebody's name, try some useful tips such as repeating the name several times, connecting the new name to something you already know or linking it to something else you have just found out about the person. Just bear in mind that associations work wonders.
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“When dealing with people, let us remember we are not dealing with creatures of logic. We are dealing with creatur..."
Dale Carnegie
Handling People
- Don’t criticize, condemn or complain. People learn faster and retain knowledge more effectively when rewarded for good behavior than punished for bad behavior.
- Give honest and sincere appreciation. The only way to get a person to do anything is by giving them what they want.
- Arouse in the other person an eager want. The only way to influence other people is to talk about what they want and show them how to get it.
Appreciation and flattery
- Flattery is selfish and insincere. It’s cheap praise. You tell the other person precisely what he thinks about himself.
- Appreciation is unselfish and sincere. It happens when we stop thinking about ourselves and begin to think of the other person’s good points.
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When to Use Icebreakers
Consider using an ice breaker when:
- Participants come from different backgrounds.
- People need to bond quickly so as to work towards a common goal.
- Your team ...
The "ice" that needs to be broken
When designing your ice breaker, think about the "ice" that needs to be broken.
- If you are bringing together like-minded people, the "ice" may simply reflect the fact that people have not yet met.
- If you are bringing together people of different backgrounds, cultures, and outlooks for work within your community, then the "ice" may come from people's perceptions of each other.
Designing Your Ice Breaker
- Make sure that the activity is specifically focused on meeting your objectives and appropriate to the group of people involved.
- Clarify the specific objectives for your session.
- Ask yourself questions about how you will meet your objectives.
- These questions can be used as a checklist once you have designed the session
- As a further check, ask yourself how each person is likely to react to the session.