I had always considered myself to be a pretty good 𝘀𝗺𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝘁𝗮𝗹𝗸𝗲 | Fedor's Eduverse
I had always considered myself to be a pretty good 𝘀𝗺𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝘁𝗮𝗹𝗸𝗲𝗿. I could make conversation with anyone, anywhere. But talking to Gabriel, our small talk expert, I realized that 𝟯𝟯% 𝗼𝗳 𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝗮𝗱𝘂𝗹𝘁 𝗵𝘂𝗺𝗮𝗻 𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗲𝗰𝗵 𝗶𝘀 𝘀𝗺𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝘁𝗮𝗹𝗸!!!
It really made me think about just how important small talk is.
Western professional culture seems to place a lot of importance on being able to engage in small talk. It's seen as a way to 𝗯𝘂𝗶𝗹𝗱 𝗿𝗲𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗽𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗰𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗻𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗽𝗲𝗼𝗽𝗹𝗲. And I have to say, I do see the value in that.
But for someone like me who finds it easy to chat with people, the pressure to make small talk can sometimes be too much. 𝘐 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘧𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘰𝘳 𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘳𝘦, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘐 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘮 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘐'𝘮 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘨𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘰𝘯.
It's a tough line to walk, but ultimately I think it's worth it. Because when you can connect with someone through small talk, it opens up the door for more meaningful conversations down the road.
𝗣𝗹𝗲𝗮𝘀𝗲 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗯𝗲𝗹𝗼𝘄: are you a small talker? Do you find it easy or hard to small talk?
