learn to make small talk

I am noticing I am getting better at initiating small talk. just ask questions!

I initiated a conversation with another customer while waiting at the mechanic. Tip: look for something in common with the other person, and ask questions.

fine art of small talk

Crossing this off my list as completed because I do feel that I’m becoming better practised at this. That is, I don’t shy away from conversations now like I did before.

I have a difficult time making small talk unless someone initiates the small talk….if that makes any sense.. I can talk about pretty much anything because I have a wide range of interests and hobbies. The problem is, even though I’ve been a teacher for 12 years, I’m incredibly shy when it comes to approaching strangers and striking up a conversation. My biggest problem is just knowing how to open up a conversation with someone…how to begin the small talk is an absolute mystery to me. Anything I think of just sounds cheesy and I usually wind up just keeping my mouth shut unless someone else approaches me.

i went to a bridal shower yesterday and it was terrible. i hate talking to people. i didn’t even really try.

This is scary, its something I’d like to do as a challenge though- I talked to somebody in town waiting for the bus, he had a Wildlife trust T-Shirt on- I managed to build up the courage and ask whether he’d been a member long and asked about what sort of stuff they do round here, being that there aren’t so many good reserves here.
But unfortunately cause I took so d*mn long he was already on the bus, in pretty much no time at all- I’ve got to keep at it I think even if I do mess up, it didn’t go too badly.

I’m not sure if my problem is that I cannot make small talk, or rather that I simply do not care for it. Snobbish as it sounds, I’m honestly not interested in the everyday floss of peoples’ lives and I certainly don’t find my own day to day existence thrilling enough to share. Maybe it’s an effect of the shyness I’ve had since… well, birth, probably, but I find that unless I have something that I feel is important to say I’m very self-conscious and terribly uncomfortable when forced to chat with people that I don’t know well enough to call “friend”. Although, somewhat ironically, I can witter on for hours in online forums such as this. Go figure.

I’d like to imagine that this inability to share makes me somewhat enigmatic, but most people probably just think I’m antisocial and very dull!

http://www.ehow.com/how_10812_make-small-talk.html