Not everyone needs small talk. For some small talk feels like their head is a haze of white noise and they desperately want to escape the interaction.But, they feel comfortable if you dive straight in and ask about politics or religion or the meaning of life.

Not for everyone 

To "talk well" in the social sense is to send the correct social signals and is different from "talking well" in the communicative sense. Few people can master both. Most people are either extremely verbal and eloquent but socially inept or intuitively at ease in a social situation but inarticulate beyond that.

Two talking skills

<ul><li>Speech communicates information or ideas. It is the semantic content of speech.</li><li>On another level, talking is a social behavior. Every speech does something. It reassures, acknowledges, nurtures, enjoins, rejects, dominates, encourages, or just fill an awkward silence.</li></ul>

Speech operates on two levels

The daily human interaction speech is a social, relational behavior. It reveals the social fabric.Small talk is not void of semantic content. Even saying "I am doing well" has some information. But, the primary function of small talk is to do something. It is meant to serve the purpose of social bonding.

The social function speech

Not everyone enjoys small talk. It is not that they are not comfortable talking, but one-on-one, small talk remains an issue. Small talk precedes big talk in the normal course of human affairs. Most people feel the need to connect first before they delve into the serious conversation or ongoing friendships - which means those who avoid small talk are removing themselves from meaningful social interaction.

Small talk 

Anthropologist Bronisław Malinowski noted in 1923 that a great deal of talk "does not serve any purpose of communicating ideas" but "to establish bonds of personal union." He also said that small talk was merely a way to fill the silence. He was wrong. Small talk is not just for those seeking companionship. It enacts and reinforces social roles in a whole range of social, commercial, and professional settings.

Small talk has meaning

This essay was originally published in 2015 and has been lightly updated. I hate small talk. Hate it. And when I say I hate it, what I really mean is I'm abysmal at it. Just a total failure. Here's how I experience small talk.

Speech operates on two levels

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The social function speech

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