If you are looking to improve your conversation skills, the biggest reason to get the book is the number of conversation cheat sheets offered by the author. The Fine Art of Small Talk Summary For singles, there is also a chapter on how you can up your dating game. Lesson 1: The Importance of Small Talk There is some useful stuff in here (obviously it’s not the example opening liners) - more so the useful tidbits are plagiarisms from Dale Carnegie’s ‘How To Win Friends And Influence People’. Seriously, just read that book instead of this one. You’ll gain far more insight into the world of socializing. A great book for those who want to become a skilled conversationalist. No matter how good you think you are at small talks, there are rooms for improvement. Although many good conversationalists may perceive those lines as ordinary and basic tips, they are eye-opening to me. The book includes handy cheat sheets with prepared conversational lines that can be applied right away. In addition, Debra does a wonderful job in describing psychological processes of those who fear public events and make mistakes in having a small talk with other strangers. I know she is right, because I used to find myself in such situations *laugh shamelessly*

As I said, nothing earth-shattering in here, but in an age of increasing social disconnection because of technology, perhaps these tips could be useful to anyone who is seeking to improve their relationships through small talk. Advisers tend to jump in and try to offer unsolicited advice. Even though they have good intentions, they will come across as presumptuous because they didn’t spend time trying to understand what’s being shared by others. Access-restricted-item true Addeddate 2010-07-22 15:46:12 Bookplateleaf 0005 Boxid IA124115 Camera Canon EOS 5D Mark II City New York Donor People love to talk about themselves. I’ve gotten a lot of great business information by just listening to what people have to say, whether it’s work-related or not. Often, it’s about reading between the lines and listening to what they’re not saying to get a good understanding of the type of person they are, what they want and how I can supply that need. Hello, my name is Heidi and I am bad at small talk. It's not that I don't have things to say — I can think of plenty of things to say. The things just don't make it out of my mouth.Never ask questions warranting just a yes or no answer. Use the following phrases or questions instead: Like with most business soft skills, if you’re really struggling with this stuff, there are books you can buy about it. The Fine Art of Small Talk by Debra Fine even offers to help people do well in job interviews. Debra Fine’s pitch is, every conversation is an opportunity for success. Her tips are interesting and quirky:

The last few chapters were confusing (I didn’t DNF, it was so short I had to finish. And I wanted to see what other hilarious open liners the author gave). One was on being single and mingling. It felt very out of place in a book on small talk in a professional setting. The author jumps into rants on dating, and how to navigate the scene. It had me laughing once again at the horrendous advice, one of them being “leave your phone in your car”. Yeah…don’t do that. Especially on a first date. I think what the author was trying to say was “don’t look at your phone while on a date”. Not “throw away your only lifeline to the outside world if the date goes bad”. We’ve all had business encounters where our companions have turned out to be surprisingly sympathetic. Here are seven ways to turn small talk into great conversation, when it’s appropriate:Small talk is light, informal conversation. We do it when we’re talking to people we don’t know as part of networking. Other important times are with colleagues we see every day and others we interact with through work. And we should really do it more. Even saying no to sales people and job applicants, it’s important to build up their humanity. Is Small Talk Good or Bad? When you refer to people by their name in a conversation, it makes them feel special and shows that you’ve been paying attention. Luận điểm nên đưa ra trước rồi đến Luận chứng, điều đó mang lại cảm giác tin tưởng cũng như để người nghe dễ nắm bắt vấn đề. Show some enthusiasm. Small talk might not always be stress-free. But go in with the right attitude and it can be exciting. You never know what the other person might want to share, so it could be a great conversation.