"Small talk is the white bread of entertainment: no real nutrients, just empty calories," our author recently read and wondered since when has this been a negative thing?
I have the feeling that small talk is slowly getting an image problem. It was too superficial and empty. Not intellectual enough. In short: a waste of time! You'd rather talk about much more important things these days. Things that move the world like feminism, nature conservation or Donald Trump. Deep talk, just. Something with salary and added value. Sounds exhausting!
Sure, small talk can be tedious …
… and it is difficult for many people. But have you ever been caught up in a conversation in which the meaning of life and transience were discussed? Oh well. In no moment do you long for a fluffy, fluffy, irrelevant white bread talk like this one. Why doesn't anyone want to talk about the weather anymore and find out what our favorite snack is?
The longing for white bread
There are topics that you would rather talk about with people you have only known for five minutes. A little undemanding talk comes just in time. Small-Talk serves as a door opener, can build trust and gives us the opportunity to get to know others first and to present ourselves. So to speak, 0815-Talk is the catapult that puts us in a good conversation and can catapult us out of it again after just a few minutes, if wanted. After all, this form of conversation is completely non-binding. And also: Who would come up with the idea of asking their boss in the elevator about their opinion on climate change? In some situations, conversations about the weather are just right.
Afraid of unpleasant silence?
Often it is not the small talk itself that worries most people. It is rather the fear of an uncomfortable silence when nobody knows what to say. There has been a lot of talk about the weather, what now? The past weekend has also been reported. Help, what now ?! Small talk does not mean that the conversation must remain superficial. On the contrary! Of course you can go further and bring more depth into the conversation. Questions like "Who do you admire?" or "In which country would you like to live?" offer a great basis for exciting discussions and let you get to know your counterpart better. Introverts in particular, for whom small talk tends to be more stressful, can think of questions in advance that they can easily conjure up from their sleeves. And when the embarrassing silence arises, take it with humor.
Small talk is like warming up among the conversation sports. And once we are well rehearsed, we can really talk about feminism and verbally save the world.