Small talk may be the most maligned category of conversation. For many, it's a time-waster with no redeeming qualities other than mindless chatter. Yet, when properly understood and applied, small ...

Let’s be honest: The hybrid office is a disorienting experience. After feeling pressure from management to return, many white-collar workers who went remote during the pandemic are starting to pop ...

Some professionals shudder at the idea of “small talk,” but it can be a powerful tool for building rapport with people you’re meeting for the first time—and for opening doors at networking events. A ...

Do you dread trading niceties with retail clerks and assorted other strangers when you are out in public? Do you go out of your way to avoid neighbors and co-workers so that you do not have to engage ...

A large body of research shows that people with good social relationships tend to be happier than those who are more isolated. But what about smaller, more casual social interactions—even fleeting ...

When Gillian Sandstrom was a graduate student in Toronto more than a decade ago, she encountered a stranger on the subway who was carrying a scrumptious-looking cupcake. Sandstrom had long considered ...

Think about what it's like to be at a birthday dinner where you have to interact with your friend's neighbors for the first time, or what it's like to be waiting for a Zoom to begin with coworkers you ...

Why are some people so good at small talk? Able to instantly engage with people they've just met, make their conversation partner feel at ease and like the most important person in the room? Able to ...

Nick Enfield does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their ...

Making small talk can be hard—especially when you’re not sure whether you’re doing it well. But conversations are a central part of relationship-building. In this first episode of How to Talk to ...

I hate making small talk. It’s always the same questions, over and over again. Surface-level and just to waste some time, small talk reminds me of sitting in a waiting room at the doctor’s office, ...