English for small-talk, lesson 1

1. Meeting 1:
HOW TO BREAK THE ICE
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Describe the picture:

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Watch the clip and explain what happens.
→ Who are the people?
→ Do they know each other?
→ How do they feel in this situation?

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Finish the sentence:
Small-talk is (adjective)

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Here are some adjectives we can use to describe
small-talk.
→ Which would the people in the video use?
→ Which would YOU use? Why?
polite
awkward
necessary
stupid
boring
useless
professional
fun

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→ Why do people dislike small-talk?
→ Do you ever start conversations
with perfect strangers? Why?

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→ Why do people dislike small-talk?
→ Do you ever start conversations
with perfect strangers? Why?
ICEBREAKER(NOUN)
something that is done or said
to get through the first difficulties
in starting a conversation or discussion

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You're going to read out loud some icebreakers.
Decide in which context you would use them:
a) whith a stranger
b) with an aquaintance
c) with a friend you haven't seen in a while
d) with your boss or business parter

9. Nice weather, isn't it?
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10. So, how do you
know Justin?
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11. Long time, no see!
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12. What's up?
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13. Hi! How are things ?
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14. Hello stranger!
What have you
been up to?
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15. I don't think we've met.
I'm Paul.
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16. Any plans for the
weekend?
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17. I've heard you're going
to the marketing
conference.
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18. Thank god it's Friday,
right?
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19. Did you watch the game
yesterday?
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20. It's getting warmer,
finally!
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21. It's pretty crowded today,
huh?
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22. Great to see you!
Are you doing ok?
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23. The DJ's amazing,
don't you think?
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24. Have you been
waiting long?
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As you can see, many of these icebreakers are
QUESTIONS or end with QUESTION TAGS.
(you can find out more about question tags by watching this video)

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QUESTION = INVITATION

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How would you start
a conversation in these
situations:

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AT THE PARK

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AT THE GYM

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WAITING FOR A DELAYED FLIGHT

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WAITING IN LINE AT A MUSIC FESTIVAL

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DURING BUSINESS CONFERENCE
COFFEE BREAK

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Sometimes it's easy to start a conversation,
but difficult to keep it going. You'll watch
a video (click!) on how to do that.
Answer the following:
→ What 3 things should you do to keep
a conversation going?
→ What are “the golden 7”
→ What topics should you avoid in small-talk?

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Write down at least 5 questions for each
of the small-talk situations we looked at.
Try to use different tenses and modal verbs to
make the questions more exciting ;)