To recap, the only point of making small talk is to appear to be friendly – that’s it. There is absolutely no need to come across as impressive, charming, funny, or interesting.
If you do happen to be in a situation that requires more than a smiley “Hi”, stick to meaningless, light-hearted topics that are common fodder. Think sports, celebrity gossip, what’s been on the tele recently, holidays (aka vacations) if it’s summer, Christmas if it’s winter, and the logistics of daily life, like how buses are so often late or don’t turn up at all. Try to choose something you think the other person might be able to chime in on and that you can expand on easily.
My favourite small talk topic? The weather. I regularly watch the weather forecast so I can decide what Aiyana and I should be wearing each day – also to see if I can hang out a washing - and check the temperature daily on my weather app. I’m therefore very informed about the weather. I could talk about it all day. I love thinking and talking about how it affects my hair and others’, people’s fashion choices, our moods – I could go on.
Does it matter that some people think talking about the weather is as dull as dishwater? No, because when I talk about the weather I do so in a friendly way and that’s all that matters. If someone wants to get on their high horse and turn their nose up at weather chat, then they’re clearly not particularly friendly or at least not bothered about seeming so and thus probably aren’t my kind of person. If those that don’t want to talk about the weather choose to make small talk about something else, fine, I’ll go along with it, but if I’m initiating the conversation the weather will be my topic of choice.
Regardless of how you truly feel, when making small talk, zero negative emotions should show up – no serious complaining, grumbling or oversharing. Seeming to be friendly is the only goal.
In my next and last post on this topic, I’ll talk about why I think learning these truths about small talk had such a big impact on me.
Until then, tell me your thoughts on the above. What are your favourite small talk topics? What are your thoughts on the weather and its effect on hair?
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