The art of small talk – 7 basic tips
Wikipedia definiert Smalltalk so: „Als Alltagsgespräch (Plauderei, auch Smalltalk oder Geplänkel, im Dialekt unter anderem Schwatzen, Plauschen) bezeichnet man ein Gespräch, das spontan, zufällig, locker und in einem umgangs-sprachlichen Ton geführt wird, in dem es sich zumeist um Themen der privaten Lebenssphäre handelt.
Dabei treten hierarchische Beziehungsunterschiede zwischen den Gesprächspartnern weitgehend in den Hintergrund – das heißt, sie werden nicht als relevant behandelt. Alltagsgespräche sind die natürlichste Form der gesprochenen Sprache; sie finden in natürlichen Situationen statt.“
Klingt einfach oder? Ist es aber nicht. Vor allem nicht in Englisch. Secretary Today erklärt Ihnen wie Ihnen auch das fehlerfrei gelingt.
Small talk tip no. 1: Take the initiative
Introduce yourself and make others feel welcome.
- Hello, I’m Regina Krause. I don’t think we’ve met.
- Hello, I’m Sarah. Are you all from the London office?
Small talk tip no. 2: Ask focused questions
Don’t ask broad questions (such as ‘tell me about yourself, will you?’). You need to focus on something to get the small talk going.
- What did you think of the talk?
- Have you stayed at this hotel before?
Small talk tip no. 3: Think of small talk like a game of tennis
Don’t talk all the time. Keep the ball going back and forth.
- I really liked that presentation. What did you think?
- That singer was amazing, wasn’t she?
Small talk tip no. 4: Avoid too many closed questions
Questions beginning with ‘do’ ‘are you’ and so on lead to short answers and the small talk will end up sounding like an interrogation.
Small talk tip no. 5: Keep the conversation alive by listening
Demonstrate empathy by actively listening.
- Really? - That’s wonderful.
- How nice! - I can imagine!
Small talk tip no. 6: Never say a simple yes or no
Simple yes and no answers are in English. Just adding ‘it is’ or ‘not really’ will make all the difference.
- No, not really. - Yes, it certainly is.
- No, not at all. - Yes, absolutely.
Small talk tip no. 7: Choose your topic carefully
It is hard to recommend universally acceptable topics for small talk – apart from the weather, of course. In some countries, such as India, politics is a common topic. In others, like Germany, it is usually avoided. So be sensible and find out about the culture you are dealing with in advance.
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