I had an ugly Christmas sweater holiday party today for work and I was sitting around people I didn’t know (the people I knew were at the other end of the table) and it was so difficult for me to find common ground to talk about with people. Granted I may be a little awkward but I’m pretty good at keeping the conversation going. For some reason legit I just couldn’t keep a conversation flowing with the people around me. People just didn’t seem to want to talk that much and it was so draining trying to keep the conversation going when they weren’t reciprocating the effort. I’m pretty new to the corporate workforce and would love tips on safe topics for corporate parties or things to talk about without being too personal with strangers!
10 comments
Engage people with an icebreaker question and try to establish a dialogue by contributing to the conversation. Just don’t ask a series of questions. At a Christmas function anyone of the following can work:
“Do you have any plans for the holidays?’
“Does your family have an annual Christmas traditions?”
“Any plans to go away this winter?”
“Any big plans for next year?”
In no particular order and depending on the age of the person / demographics of your local area / type of industry:
1) Vacations
2) sports
3) restaurants
4) what department do you work in? / do you know Bob? / are you on such and such project?
5) kids / pets
6) when are you planning to retire / any plans for retirement? (Only applicable in certain career fields)
Try to work in some of your expertise and experience if at all possible, especially if it’s someone who may offer you a spot somewhere.
Establish dominance by asking who everyone is voting for in next years election
Ask follow up questions
People really just want to talk about themselves
get better at socializing in general
Easiest way to get people talking is asking them about themselves. Everyone loved to talk about themselves.
Two tips:
1) Listen to the conversations of others, wait until you hear some common ground you have with them, and jump in. 👍 Truth of the universe – people like people, who are like themselves.
2) Totally may not have been you. My work crew is awesome – we all get along great, not an asshole in the bunch and were there for each other 110%. That being said, we also work a lot of long hours together… so at the annual get togethers we all just kinda want to get to our lives and families too. 💁♂️
Always start by asking if they have kids and go from there. If they do, ask questions about them and just nod. People love talking about their kids. No kids? Move on to pets and then vacations. Get them to talk about themselves until you find something you both like.
Don’t take it personally. At times people just aren’t in a mood to talk . Sometimes I’m chatty with new ppl n at times I don’t give a f***.
For better advice see other comments 🌚
Welcome to life. There is no correct small talk.