Small Talk: B1+

Small Talk: B1+
Deborah Capras

Build key business relationshipsCollins Small Talk gives you the confidence to start a conversation and transition into bigger conversation topics so that you are able to build relationships, develop business partnerships and be successful in business.Learn the language to:• Meet people for the first time• Greet people in subsequent meetings• Show and receive hospitality• Deal with remote communication• End a conversationThe book includes information on best practice and key phrases for students to refer to and practise saying out loud using online audio. Online audio also includes good and bad examples of authentic recordings of small talk for learners to listen to and assess.Suitable for students whose level of English is Intermediate / CEF level B1 and higher.Small Talk is part of Collins’ English for Business range of materials to help business people who need to use English frequently in their work. It is designed for people who are about to or already work for a foreign or multinational company, deal with overseas customers or travel for business.Other titles in the Collins English for Business range:Reading • Writing • Listening • Speaking • Key Business Skills • Business Grammar & Practice • Business Vocabulary in Practice • Effective International Business Communication

Deborah Capras

Small Talk

Collins

HarperCollins Publishers,

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First edition 2014

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Source ISBN: 9780007546237

Ebook Edition © JUNE 2014 ISBN: 9780007574759

Version: 2014-08-19

Contents Map

Introduction

Small talk is not small

We all prefer to do business with people we trust. To build trust with your business partners, you need to have good working relationships and you can create the basis for such relationships if you can connect with people on a personal level. Small talk can help you to make this connection.

Why make small talk?

● To create a bond: By opening up about your interests, you can create a more personal bond with someone and therefore a better relationship.

● To create a network: You can find the best business partners in business situations and at social events. If you can engage with strangers using small talk, you can create a network of people you can call on for their expertise. And they, in turn, will want to add you to their networks.

● To create a positive atmosphere: You can use small talk to make yourself and others feel at ease.

What factors influence small talk?

Place

The way you make small talk with a stranger at a conference is different from the way you talk to someone who is visiting your office or someone at an evening event. If you are welcoming a visitor to your office, you need to make them feel at ease. At a conference, you are on neutral ground and can use small talk simply to make contacts. At an evening event, you are also on neutral ground and the situation is more likely to be relaxed. Therefore, topics may be more personal.

Personality

According to the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator

, a popular tool that identifies people as belonging to distinctive personality types, some people are more extroverted and others are more introverted. Extroverts enjoy social events and group conversations with lots of different people. They become energized in social situations, often moving quickly from one topic of conversation to another. Introverts, on the other hand, prefer one-on-one conversations. They will often talk about fewer topics, but in more detail. They may be better at keeping in touch at a distance, via email for example. They aren’t necessarily bad at small talk, but they may find it harder and more tiring; they may be better listeners. So does this mean that introverts and extroverts can’t talk to each other? Not at all. If you are an extrovert, give the introverts time to join in. If you are introverted, make the most of your one-on-one interactions. By the way, no one type is seen as good or bad – they are just different.

Relationship

To some extent, the kind of small talk you make depends on the status of the person you are talking to. It is generally more relaxed between people who have a similar status than, for example, between a receptionist and a CEO. Small talk could still be important, but it may be more limited.

The longer you know someone, the friendlier and more informal small talk can be. Less formal language helps to build personal relationships. If you are too formal, you may create a distance that is hard to bridge.

Gender

For many years Deborah Tannen, a sociolinguist and author of You Just Don’t Understand: Women and Men in Conversation, has been studying how men and women communicate and interact. She describes the type of talk that men make as ‘report-talk’. By this, she means that they like to exchange information about impersonal topics. Women, however, generally prefer ‘rapport-talk’, which focuses on personal relationships and is more intimate. She also notes that men tend to talk more in public than women.

Culture

What are your cultural values? Do you know what values are important to your business partner? The closer your values, the more you will have in common and the easier it is to make small talk. Culture is influenced by many different factors, including language, religion, societal norms and traditions. Knowing your business partner’s cultural values may help you to decide which topics you can discuss together.

Fons Trompenaars, a leading expert on intercultural communication and author of Riding the Waves of Culture: Understanding Cultural Diversity in Business, has studied the extent to which our cultural values affect the way we interact with people and how we do business. He uses the terms ‘specific’ and ‘diffuse’ to describe how people from different cultures view their professional and private lives.

In ‘specific’ cultures such as the Netherlands and Switzerland, people like to keep their private lives private. They believe that relationships are important, but not necessary to do business. In ‘diffuse’ cultures such as China, India, Russia and Spain, private and professional lives are closely linked. People from these cultures believe that a good personal relationship is vital to doing business and they often spend time socializing outside of work.

Be prepared to make small talk

We make small talk based on what is happening around us, what is important to us, our experiences and our feelings. Small talk is often spontaneous and random, so it is difficult to predict what people will talk about. You need to have a passive understanding of many expressions to follow many small talk exchanges, but you can take part using a much smaller set of key phrases.

This book will go a long way towards helping you to learn key phrases for a variety of situations. It also presents the language that you are likely to hear, especially when talking to native speakers of English.

How to use this book

The language level of this book is B1–B2 on the Common European Framework of Reference, equivalent to intermediate–upper-intermediate level.

This book can be used as a self-study guide or as part of a course. Work through each chapter in order or refer to a specific chapter before you go to a conference, to a meeting or to the office of a business partner and focus on the key phrases you will need. Use the book as a resource when you know you will have the opportunity to meet people and to make small talk in English.

Overview

Part A: Face to face

As most small talk interactions are face to face, most chapters focus on this type of communication.

Part B: At a distance

There are long periods of time between face-to-face meetings when you need to communicate and build on your relationship via email or on the phone. Nowadays, with a lot of business conducted via email, you may have business partners that you never meet face to face. Nevertheless, it is still important to make use of small talk opportunities.

Part C: Communication strategies

This part has tips and suggestions on how to improve your general communication strategies. There is also a special focus on body language and how to spell out names and email addresses.

Answer key

There is a comprehensive answer key at the back of the book.