Mastering Small Talk Before Business Conversations

I. Opening conversation / small talk Do you think that it’s ok to omit the opening conversation in English? Even if you are in a rush, it’s still best to avoid doing so. When you’re in business, English is a social language. Opening conversation is the first step to show you the flow and culture of the social language. The purpose of the opening conversation is not to make your counterpart laugh or to show off your creative or interesting stories. The goal is to simply make your counterpart feel comfortable talking to you. In this conversation, a simple comment about the timing or location should be enough.

II. Avoid silence during opening conversation Sometimes, when we have no idea what to talk about, we force ourselves to joke or ask questions. In that case, it might make the atmosphere awkward. Let’s see the following example. Commenting on the weekend is not bad, but in an international meeting, it can be difficult to apply because some participants might be joining the meeting on the weekend. Also, when you have a meeting in a different time zone, some people might be in a different time zone. So they might not have had their weekend yet. What we should do instead is to make comments about the situation. Examples are as follows. Let’s look at the following example. In this case, you can say, “Looks like the connection is good today.” Then your counterpart says, “Yeah, hopefully it will stay that way.” So, in this conversation, you should make a simple comment about the situation and wait for your counterpart to respond. When your counterpart responds, say something similar in length. Then it will look like a mutual conversation, rather than a one-sided one.

III. Transition from opening conversation to business conversation After you had the opening conversation, let’s move on to the business conversation. In English, there is a transition from the opening conversation to the business conversation. Let’s see the following example. You can say, “So let’s move on to the agenda,” “Shall we move on to the next agenda?” or “With that being said, let’s move on to the next item.” In these phrases, you can use “let’s,” “shall we” or “with that being said.” The key is to say them in a very casual tone. Here’s another example. You can say, “So let’s move on to the next item. The first item is …” So, the conversation should flow smoothly without any awkwardness.

IV. What if my counterpart doesn’t let me move on? Sometimes, even after you try to move on to the business conversation, your counterpart keeps talking about the opening conversation. In that case, what you can do is to say the following. You can say, “It’s great that we can catch up on this, but I guess we should move on to the next item.” This way, you can still be polite and transition to the business conversation.

V. Drills to improve your conversation skills Now, let’s practice. When you practice, choose one scenario. For example, you’re going to have a meeting and some of the attendees are overseas. You need to make a comment about the time difference. Then, choose 3 different phrases you can say. Record yourself saying those 3 phrases. Check if your tone is natural or not. Then, think of one possible response from your counterpart. Then, choose 2 different responses you can say to transition to the business conversation.

Again, record yourself saying those phrases. Then check the naturalness of the tone. Repeat steps 1-3, 3 times. Then, delete the first one. Repeat this process every day for 15 minutes. It’s important to choose the right scenario for your daily situation. When you get used to it, you can gradually apply it to other situations. For example, you can practice making a comment when you attend a meeting at the client’s office. Or when you have a meeting with your team, you can practice giving a comment on the location. Practice every day, and you will be able to master small talk before a business conversation.