Training Materials

Making Small Talk

Sale price£109
Product Code: ST2067

Audience: Anyone

Prerequisites: None


Course Duration: 1-Day

Course Level: Beginner Intermediate

Category: Interpersonal Development

Course on How to Initiate and Maintain Effective Conversations

Fully Customisable Training Course Material

Description

“Conversation should be pleasant without scurrility, witty without affection, free without indecency, learned without conceitedness, novel without falsehood.”

William Shakespeare

We all desire to communicate with others. This need for social connection is embedded in our genes and is universal among all cultures. Yet, many people consider approaching strangers a daunting task. Why should it be difficult to approach others when this is such an obvious need?

Suppose you are attending a business networking event and need to connect with others. Most people know the incredible value of such connections and how it can help them with their businesses, personal branding, networking and gaining recognition in their respective communities. Yet, most also find it difficult to approach others in such events, perhaps feeling shy, unsure of what to say, how to initiate or maintain a conversation or how to approach a group. Many may simply prefer to hang around until someone else approaches them which mean they lose control over who they communicate with or may even end up not communicating at all. This in turn can have a negative effect on self-esteem leading to self-fulfilling prophesies that one is simply not good enough in socialising.

In non-business social settings, you may want to approach others to engage in a conversation and share something about your life and learn something about theirs. In order to be remembered, you need to leave a positive impression; but how can you achieve this quickly and effectively?

This course helps delegates learn the art of small talk to address all such situations. It provides numerous strategies, techniques and examples on what works and what does not so delegates can clearly see what to do and say in a given situation.

The power of this course lies in the interactive exercises since there is nothing better than learning such skill than practicing it with other people. Through numerous exercises delegates go through a number of structured and simulated activities that will help them converse with each other and learn how to make small talk. No amount of reading, watching videos or even e-learning solutions can be a substitute for a training based on exercises with people in person and in realistic situations. The exercise also allows the tutor as well as the delegates to provide specific feedback which will quickly help people to learn what to say and what to avoid.

The course is designed to cater for both social and business settings covering universal strategies that are known to help with connecting to people, increasing engagement and establishing rapport.

The course comes with a comprehensive workbook with example conversations that delegates can easily refer to after the course for reference. The training materials also include exercises and instructions on how run them efficiently.

In this highly practical course participants will learn:

 

What Is Small Talk?

  • Why some attempts in starting conversations fail?
  • Why mastering small talk is important?
  • What should you avoid when starting conversations?

 

How to Break the Silence

  • Why silence can be bad?
  • What stops you from breaking the silence?
  • How can you overcome your fears to break the silence?
  • What strategies can you employ to approach a person to talk to?
  • What kinds of information should you exchange in the initial parts of a conversation with a stranger?
  • What strategies will help you kick-start a conversation?
  • What statements are useful at the beginning of a conversation?

 

Consultative Selling and Small Talk

  • What is consultative selling?
  • How can you benefit from small talk during consultative selling?
  • What are two primary buying and selling modes?
  • How does buying and selling mode relate to small talk?

 

How to Break into a Conversation

  • How can you break into a 2-person conversation?
  • How can you break into a conversation among 3 or more people?

 

How to Maintain a Conversation

  • How to use active listening to maintain a conversation
  • How can you demonstrate that you are actually listening?
  • What methods can you use to encourage a speaker to continue with a conversation?

 

How to Improve Your Small Talk Performance

  • What strategies can you use to improve your small talk performance?
  • Why people remain quiet and how can you address it?
  • How to use small talk to increase your personal impact
  • How to leave a lasting positive impression

What Is Included

Everything you need to run the course:

  • Slides
  • Workbook
  • Exercises
  • Handouts
  • Trainer Notes
  • Specific Course Guidelines
  • Agenda
  • Guidelines on Training Methodology
  • Course Outline
  • Recommended Readings
  • Feedback Forms
  • Certificate of Achievement
Making Small Talk - Effective Conversations

Course Objectives

By the end of this course delegates will be able to:

  • Avoid using cliché and reactive responses that kill conversations
  • Use strategies that help start a conversation and avoid the dreaded silence
  • Use small talk with your clients to improve your chances of selling to them and leave a positive impact
  • Break into a conversation tactfully and safely
  • Use strategies to maintain a conversation and encourage speakers to remain interested in your interaction with them
  • Engage in small talk conversations with confidence knowing how to remain in control and what to say at any moment

Courseware Features

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  6. You will also receive emails with download links
  7. Unzip the package and access all the training resources in MS Office format
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Unlimited workbook reprinting rights

Comprehensive

The downloadable training package contains all you need to deliver a course

Extensively Researched

Designed based on the latest research in educational psychology, cognitive psychology, social sciences and business practices

Facilitation Training

Designed in line with the principles of accelerated learning

Interactive

Designed to include many examples, case studies and exercises to improve learning and retention

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Source Files

Receive editable source files in MS Office 365 (Word DOC/DOCX and Power Point PPT/PPTX) and previous Office versions 2003, 2007, 2010, 2013 & 2016

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About the Design Philosophy of Making Small Talk Course

This course is designed around strategiesexamples and exercises on making small talk. In our experience, people tend to learn best by analysing examples. After examining examples, they then get to practice making small talk in a series of exercises during the course.

Some exercises are also provided to encourage delegates use several skills and strategies while going through a simulated scenario. This helps them learn how to approach a give situation with their new skills. They will then receive specific feedback on their performance to improve their performance.

Even a little amount of small talk can do wonders for your success in consultative selling.

Making small talk requires practice and dedication. The workbook is designed to provide a good reference so delegates can refer back to it in the future and continue practicing the strategies covered. For example, before attending an event they can quickly go through the list of strategies provided in the workbook to prepare and refresh their minds on what they can do to engage in a conversation. 

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