How to Start a Conversation in English - Small talk in English

When working with your American colleagues, you talk about two things.

Work

and

everyday subjects.

Talking about work is easy

Well...

easier.

You have the technical vocabulary and

many of the words are the same in French and in English

The difficult thing is to make small talk

Small talk

Little social discussions about every day subjects.

I’m Christina and you’re watching Speak Better, Feel Great TV

The place to boost your English and boost your career

In today’s video

I’m gonna show you a simple technique

that you can use to make small talk around the coffee machine with your American colleagues.

You ready?

When making small talk, there are two major challenges:

having vocabulary

and

having something to say.

Today,

you’re going to learn how to start a conversation with confidence

without needing a ton of complex vocabulary.

How?

With the ARE method

It’s a 3-step structure that makes it easy to start a conversation

confidently.

A.R.E.

A R E stands for

Anchor

Reveal

Encourage.

Let’s look at each part and then we’ll put it into action

and

you’ll even have a chance to practice!

A is for Anchor.

Start the conversation by anchoring it

in the situation that you and your partner are both sharing

This is just simple sentence to break the ice.

For example

if you’re at a restaurant with a colleague

you can comment on the restaurant.

Something simple like

"Ooh I like the art they have on the walls."

or

"Mmmm, the dessert menu looks delicious."

Don’t worry about making comments that are boring or superficial.

You and the other person

both know that this exchange is

just to break the silence and transition into the real conversation

R is for Reveal.

Say something about yourself that is related to your anchor sentence.

in the restaurant scenario you might say

"I don’t know much about art, but I do like the museum in town. It’s quite nice."

or

"My husband make a really good tiramisu.

Maybe I’ll get tiramisu for dessert and compare!"

You’re giving some personal information about yourself,

so you start to create a connection with your colleague.

You’re also giving them something they can respond to

to continue the conversation.

E

for Encourage.

Now

encourage them to continue the conversation by asking a question

related

to your Anchor & Reveal sentences.

For example

"Do you think you’ll have a chance to do any sightseeing while you’re here?"

or

"Do you ever make desserts at home?"

Of course

you'll need to continue the conversation

You can alternate between questions and comments after the other person says something.

Don’t just ask questions

because you’ll sound like a police interrogator!

Don’t just offer comments

because you’re not really inviting

the other person to continue talking.

Alternate between the two

and you’ll keep the conversation going!

Now

let’s practice!

Here’s the scenario:

After a meeting

you’re taking a break at the coffee machine with your American colleague Bob from the Boston office.

You both have your coffee

and

you’re standing around a table in the break area

You want to start the conversation

Find something to say

following the ARE structure and say it out loud for yourself.

I’ll guide you

Anchor your conversation.

Go ahead

Now

reveal something about yourself

Finally

encourage Bob to continue.

Here’s a sample conversation starter

Then, you can continue talking about office culture, your typical day at work, etc

Or, another possibility

Then you can continue talking about what makes good and bad meetings

the different subjects of interesting or boring meetings you’ve attended, etc.

Let’s try another scenario.

You’re at a restaurant for lunch with Jennie

who’s visiting you from the Chicago office

You’ve just ordered your food

You can’t wait in silence

so, you start a conversation.

Again, I’ll guide you, but say something out loud to yourself

Anchor your conversation.

Go ahead.

Now

reveal something about yourself

Finally

encourage Jennie to continue

Here’s a sample conversation starter:

Or, if, for example

the restaurant has clafoutis aux cerises on the menu of the day

So to recap:

If you want to start a conversation with your American colleague

on a general, everyday subject,

use the ARE structure

Anchor

Reveal

Encourage.

Don’t worry about using long, complex sentences.

And

we’ll look at vocabulary for common small talk topics in future SBFG videos

so feel free to send me your suggestions of topics!!

If you made it to the end of this video, congratulations.

You made it to the end of one of the longest Speak Better, Feel Great TV videos

I imagine you watched until the end because the subject was interesting for you.

If you want future videos

sign up to get a new one each week at christinarebuffet.com.

Additionally, if you have a colleague who could benefit from this very practical video,

send them a link to it.

Don’t just “like” it on LinkedIn or Facebook.

Send them a personal email.

They’ll thank you for it!

Finally, tell me:

what subjects do you want to be able to talk about with your American colleagues?

I’ll prepare some vocabulary videos in the future

to help you have the vocabulary you need

to feel confident in small talk conversations.

I’m Christina, from Speak Better, Feel Great TV.

See ya next time!