What is Small Talk?

Discuss about the Workplace Relationships.

Small talk is an informal type of conversation which is premeditated to provide people a probability to increase their networking and opportunities. It aims to put people at ease by initiating them into conversation. In this way, it creates a level of comfort between the two individuals in order to build a relationship between them (Fisher, 2016). The process of small conversation or small talk was considered for the first time by Malinowski. He explained the concept by using a term ‘phatic communication’ for it (Ogden et al., 1923). The small talk can be considered as a way of social communication as it requires social ability to conduct a small talk with an individual. In order to enhance social communication skills, networking in the workplaces is assumed to be the most suitable environment as maximum time of working people is consumed in the workplaces only. 

The main purpose of small talk is to manage interpersonal distances between the persons conducting the conversation (Mattar & Wachsmuth, n.d.). It helps to define the relationships between friends, colleagues, or new relationships and in exploring and categorizing social status of each other. It initializes social interactions in a flexible manner but the main purpose depends upon the topic to be selected for initiating the small talk (Nelson, 2012). It opens the pathway to communication when two individuals are unknown to each other. It is depicted through small talks that two of them have friendly intentions and provides them a positive signal for further interaction (Tranchemontagne, 2016). It provides effortlessness in concluding communication which is beneficial for establishing the relationship between two people. Being a social species, it is a tendency of humans to start phatic talks with the person they meet until some sort of substantial matter for discussion arises. However, the whole purpose of small talks depends only and only upon the relationship between two people who are communicating with each other. It is based on the nature of relation as how should a particular small talk be commenced (Tsang, 2008).

There are so many benefits of engaging in small talks, some of them are-

• It provides a lot of information as well as the sense of mood of the other person(Admin, 2009).
• It helps us to make a good impression about ourselves in front of other people and on the other hand, we can test the sense of humour of the other person by engaging in small talks(Park, 2015).
• It can lead to long lasting relationships particularly in case of friendship; all friendly relationships start through small talks and become close friendship slowly and gradually.
• Chatting with strangers helps us in creating new thoughts and ideas and inspires us in many innovative ways(Sravani, 2016).
• In an era of smart phones and various gadgets, people do not usually pay heed to the surroundings and live with gadgets only. Small conversations with a real person instead of online chats aware us about our surroundings also(Nickalls, 2016). 

Person A: Hey, I never knew you have interest in reading books?

Person B: Yeah, I have.

Person A: What kind of books do you prefer reading?

Person B: I have a lot of interest in reading fiction.

Person A: Same here. What are your favourite authors?

What is the Purpose of Small Talk?

Person B: I love to read novels by Jane Austen and Thomas Hardy.

Person A: Even I like their novels but my favourites are Thomas Hughes and J.K. Rowling.

Person B: Okay! Good to hear that. Anyway, meet you sometime later. Bye!

Person A: Bye! 

Person A: Hey, my name is Nick. The weather is quite good today, isn’t it?

Person B: Hello, mine is Jack. Yes, you’re right. It was scorching hot for last couple of weeks.

Person A: I hope the weather remains like this for some time now.

Person B: Don’t you think the bus is quite late today!

Person A:  Yeah, it usually arrives by this time but today it is getting too late.

Person B: We will get late in reaching office.

Person A: Yeah, you are right. We will surely have to hear one or two from our respective bosses.  

Person A: Nice to see you here.

Person B: Me too. Do you come to this shop on regular basis?

Person A: Yeah, I purchase all grocery from here only. Many varieties are available here.

Person B: Oh really! Are they available at reasonable prices? Actually, I have come here for the first time.

Person A: Yes, I think so. You can try and compare it yourself.

Person B: Ok. How is office going these days?

Person A: As usual. How about you?

Person B: It’s going fine. Meet you in the office tomorrow. Have a good day!

Person A: Ok, bye. See you tomorrow.

Person A: Hello, myself Lisa. It seems I’ve seen you somewhere. May I know your name?

Person B: Hi, my name is Daisy. May be I can, if you can tell me something about you.

Person A: Ok, I’m a local resident of this place and I have completed my studies from the California University and currently working in a Bank. I am a close relative of the family hosting this function.

Person B: Ok. So we are relative in that sense as I am also a distant relative of the family.

Person A: Oh, really! So you should come to my place someday. I live nearby Apollo Residency.

Person B: Yeah, sure. We’ll meet soon. 

Topics appropriate for small talk discussions are:

• Your last holiday- Weather is excellent. I’m planning a trip. Where did you spend your last holidays?
• The weather- What a weather! It’s raining after so long.
• Your favourite actor- Have you seen the last movie? The lead is my favourite actor.
• Gardening- What are your hobbies? Mine is gardening.
• Your health problems- I caught cold due to rainy weather. Do you have some medicine?
• The latest movies- Did you watch any of the latest movies? Any suggestions which one should I watch?
• The local basketball team- Do you have interest in playing games?
• Cars- New generations are very crazy about latest models in cars, aren’t they?
• A product you would like to sell in the office- Have you ever used that product? I prefer using that and believe me it’s awesome.
• Your home town- Are you a resident from here only or your home town is somewhere else? 

Reasons as to why some topics may be inappropriate for small talks are as follows:

• The best political party- It seems to be a vast topic for discussion as every person has some or the other opinion about the political party they like.
• Your family- It is also an extensive topic for discussion as some people live in nuclear family while some in joint and the discussion can also be based on family members, culture, traditions, etc.
• The One true path to eternal life- It depends upon the faith and beliefs of the people and from person to person. Hence, it is not appropriate for small talks discussion.
• The death penalty- It is again a matter of opinion and opponents and proponents arise in this intense topic of discussion. The discussion would go apart from small talks type of discussion being a controversial matter.
• How much money you earn- This topic is absolutely inappropriate for small talk as nobody asks and not anyone replies to such kind of question in a brief conversation. 

Therefore, it is my point of view regarding topics for small talk discussions. However, the selection of topic for small talk discussion depends upon the nature of relationship between the two individuals involving in the discussion. 

References

Admin, 2009. 21 Topics for Small Talk Conversation for all occasions. [Online] Available at: https://www.theindiansabroad.com/2009/12/21-topics-for-small-talk-conversation-for-all-occasions/ [Accessed 17 August 2016].

Fisher, D., 2016. How to Master the Art of Small Talk. [Online] Available at: https://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/how-to-master-the-art-of-small-talk.html [Accessed 16 August 2016].

Mattar, N. & Wachsmuth, I., n.d. Small Talk is more than Chit-Chat: Exploiting Structures of Casual Conversations for a Virtual Agent. In Lecture Notes in Computer Science. Springer. pp.119-30.

Nelson, B., 2012. Six Reasons Small Talk Is Very Important—And How To Get Better At It. [Online] Available at: https://www.forbes.com/sites/brettnelson/2012/03/30/six-reasons-small-talk-is-very-important-and-how-to-get-better-at-it/#79444ed33c4e [Accessed 16 August 2016].

Nickalls, S., 2016. The Big Benefits of Small Talk—and How to Get Better At It. [Online] Available at: https://inspiyr.com/big-benefits-small-talk/ [Accessed 17 August 2016].

Ogden, C.K., Richards, I.A., Malinowski, B. & Crookshank, F.G., 1923. The Meaning of Meaning. New York: Harcourt, Brace & World, Inc.

Park, C., 2015. An Introvert’s Guide To Small Talk: Eight Painless Tips. [Online] Available at: https://www.forbes.com/sites/christinapark/2015/03/30/an-introverts-guide-to-small-talk-eight-painless-tips/#148cca415564 [Accessed 17 August 2016].

Sravani, 2016. Small Talk – Importance, Benefits, Purpose and Tips. [Online] Available at: https://content.wisestep.com/small-talk-importance-benefits-purpose/ [Accessed 16 August 2016].

Tranchemontagne, C., 2016. The Benefits of Small Talk. [Online] Available at: https://www.readersdigest.ca/health/relationships/benefits-small-talk/ [Accessed 17 August 2016].

Tsang, S.C.-y., 2008. Is small talk in the workplace really “trivial”?. LCOM Papers, pp.69-83.