Struggling with small talk?

Good evening everyone,

Hope you’re keeping well 🙂

When networking or attending an event (this even applies to life more generally), I always try to focus on quality over quantity in my conversations. With this in mind, I’m going to share some of my top small talk tips with you all in today’s blog.

Hello and Welcome to Sweeney’s Blogs!

I love meeting people and learning about their stories – whether it’s their backgrounds, past successes, failures and lessons that have shaped them into who they are today, their aspirations for the future or even how they go about different aspects of life, I find it all so fascinating.

Working in the roles that I have over the last six years or so, plus if you add the move away to university, and I have ended up speaking to loads of people from all over the world. In doing that, you get to see so mnay different styles of commuications, it’s great!

So, how do I manage meeting new people? How do I find some common ground from the offset? Here are a few tips:

💭 Ask Open-Ended Questions – “What inspired you to work in XYZ?” sparks better conversation than simply asking “What do you do?”. If you limit your questions to ones that result in a one to two word answer, you’re going to end up with a very short conversation. Ask questions that enable someone to share or tell a storyl if they would like to

😶 Don’t Be Afraid of Pauses – Taking a little time to think over your responses shows that you genuinely care about what and how you are replying

👐 Find Common Ground – Identifying and exploring shared interests, mutual connections or similar experiences can be a great way to build rapport and kickstart your relationships

😊 Share Personal Stories – Sharing personal stories shows you are personally investing in the conversation, leading to more heartfelt and stronger interactions

There are a few of my tips, how about you? What’s your best tip for relationship building? How do you manage the initial small talk when meeting people for the first time?

I’d love to hear your thoughts ⤵️

Thanks for reading and I hope you have a lovely day!