What was striking after moving to London was that people seemed to enjoy talking about the weather with everyone they encountered, say, in a cafe or in the kitchen at work on a Monday morning. Sometimes it was better and more comfortable for both people to just stay quiet (in the lifts or waiting room). But these were the kind of topics where it was rather clear you did not have anything in common with the person and just trying to kill some time. It’s not like I didn’t use to talk about the weather or about “nothing” back home, no. With smiles on their faces, friendly tone and like it was the most fascinating topic ever. It was fascinating for me how people could spend 5 minutes talking very energetically about the weather or traffic. When I first came to London, I was overwhelmed by how easy it was for people to make a conversation about… well, nothing really. I might be biased living in England for the last two years, but I very much associate chit-chat with the British way of being. Despite of a surface similarity between how British and Americans do chit-chat/small talk, there are differences you would need to consider! You could use these topics in other parts of the world as well, but have a look around first to see if these work where you currently are. I am going to be referring mostly to my experiences in the UK, because I think the chit-chat phenomenon is just extremely widespread here. – How to get better at it if it’s not your natural preference or habit – My story of getting used to the British chit-chat What is it, why it surprised me and how to master the chit-chat skill? ![]() A thing that surprised me a lot when I first moved to England.
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