So, I was sitting with the same people I know, they were chatting with each other but since I didn’t feel any connection with the subject they were talking about, I just remained quiet while letting anxiety consume me
BUT, then this other colleague approached our table and she was silent as well since she’s not too close with the people I was sitting with, so I took this opportunity to start a conversation, here are the list that were good conversations topics which helped me a lot if you don’t like sports, weather, etc lol and I feel so proud of myself for trying my best in starting a conversation with her *pats on the shoulder*
•For how long have you been working in the company? (Good conversation starter if you’re a new employee)
•where did you do your internship? (This will open invitation to the other person to speak about themselves)
•what do you usually do after work? (IMPORTANT, this will help you introduce the hobbies conversation)
•Hobbies (please, say your hobbies, doesn’t matter if your hobbies are considered boring or childish, just say it, my hobbies are gaming and drawing and I considered them as “unprofessional” so I always refrained from saying my hobbies somehow but I decided to go for it and she actually sounded interested, she even told me she’d introduce me to a friend of her since her friend has the same hobbies as mine)
•were you or are you planning on moving abroad? (Idk why I asked this question but she was very excited about sharing her dream of moving to Sweden one day lol)
•Share your experience on how do you feel working in your current job (works better if you just started your new job)
• avoid talking about work related stuff (I didn’t say this but one of my supervisors didn’t like chatting with this guy because he was talking about needing some paperwork from him on Monday and my supervisors was like “come on, it’s Christmas party, no office hours”, not recommended)
Extra tip: it’s okay if you have to leave early, in my case I left after dinner was served so I was there for 3 hours at max because social anxiety got the best of me but trust me, they will understand if you have to leave, they won’t judge, they’ll just joke about “leaving now?” And that’s it, they won’t judge
Sorry for any grammar mistakes, English is not my first language