To get started, let's do a quick recap on why small talk is so important. Small talk is the pathway to learning something new about a coworker, discovering a potential new friendship, and having fun in a conversation.

Now I know we all hate small talk. We have this idea that it's something hard, stressful, uncomfortable, boring, or even meaningless. We also worry over what kinds of questions we can ask or what is appropriate in small talk.

Here are three different ways you can start small talk conversations successfully, and I'll include examples along the way. Option number one is start with a compliment and then add a connected question.

This is definitely a strategy Americans love, and this is what it sounds like. I love that sweater. Is it new? Those are cute shoes. Where'd you get them? That drawing is fantastic. Are you an artist on the side?

This is a strategy several of my students who live in the United States have noticed and they thought it was a little bit strange. One of my students asked me, why do Americans always want to know where I bought something? And the truth is that isn't really what we want to know.

In that process, we start to learn something about you. It may seem small, strange, and insignificant, but the only way to develop a relationship is to find those initial connections, however small they might be.

We're all familiar with questions like how long have you worked here? How long have you been an accountant? How was your weekend? But the problem with all of those is that they lead to very *** or one-word answers.

A better small talk question that encourages conversation might be, what do you like about working here? When you ask engaging questions, not only will you get longer answers, but the conversation will be more fun and it will be easier to keep it going with follow-up questions.

And finally, the third way to start successful small talk at work is to ask for advice or get someone's opinion. Now you may be thinking isn't giving my opinion more personal? And my answer to that is yes and no.

If I ask for advice on buying a house or marriage, or if I ask your opinion on a political candidate, those are definitely more personal topics and would not be appropriate for small talk.

But asking for your favorite pizza place on a Friday night, or where's the best place to get coffee near the office—these are all appropriate topics for small talk. I'll give you a couple of examples.

Hey Rebecca, it's nice to meet you. I'm Sarah, the new part-time accountant here. I'll admit that I'm a little nervous on my first day, but I'm really excited to get to know everyone. And I'd love to find out where the best places to get coffee around here. What's your favorite near the office?

Here's another example. If you're chatting with a coworker you already know well. Hey Sue. Didn't you go to Barcelona last summer? I'm thinking about it for our next vacation. I'd love to get your thoughts on it.

That is an excellent, *** way to ask questions on someone's opinion and to get more in-depth answers. With that, if you found this week's lesson useful, give this lesson a thumbs up here on YouTube and subscribe to this channel so you never miss one of my Confident English lessons.