Small Talk & Its Benefits

Small Talk is the friendly, amiable conversation people have with one another on general topics such as weather or traffic that may open doorways to knowing each other better. Communication experts consider small talk as an art, and they believe a pleasant small talk can lead to many frank, detailed discussions on business too.

Although, it is easier said than done, walking up to a stranger and initiating a conversation may not be one of the easiest things for a lot of people, especially young sales-people and business development managers. Many think opening up a conversation as an arduous task and admit having no "small talk" skills at all.

Let's see how small talk leads two people to share details about each other −

• Initiation − At this stage, the people in the conversation normally talk on general topics such as the weather, traffic, time of the day, busy schedule, etc. This gives an idea as to whether the other person is in a conversational mood or is avoiding conversation.

• Knowing each other − This is where people introduce themselves to the other person and offer details about their name, work, and the reason they were at that particular place, for example − "I am Vineet. I am a trainer and I was on my way to delivering an online training session."

• Opinion Sharing − Here the discussion moves towards slightly more "weighty" topics like politics, corporate way of life, philosophy, where the opinions of each other are listened to and valued.

• Expressing Thoughts − Once all the above stages have been cleared, you reach the final stage where both the persons can feel sufficiently comfortable in each other's company to be able to disclose intimate details about each other.