On November 8, 2017, as part of the Career Blog, I went to the “Small Talk: It’s a Big Deal!” workshop. It started with a staff member Ellen Stein introducing herself to each of us, lately discussing her actions and its importance. At the same time shortly went over certain things that are going to be in this workshop. Technically majority of the participants of the event were a freshman, who for the same reason as am I. However, there were also a couple of sophomores, juniors, and seniors who joined us. Honestly, I expected it to be some a lecture type workshop but, it turns out to be more like an impromptu communication with people which was fun.
To begin with, most of us came with friends with whom we spoke for the most except, in few instances when all of us had a visual contact with everyone else. Like, when we had to examine facial expressions and posture to decide with whom we would like to talk. Apparently, most of us couldn’t keep serious about the assignment so began to giggle. In fact, through this experiment, we learned how it impacts our perspective of others and their openness to the conversation.
By the way, as we arrived, we had received a student guide which contains helpful tips how to keep the conversation going and being aware of cliches. Overall, it was a great experience so don’t miss a chance to join it next time. At last, here is the most important advice: always try to remember the Name of the person with whom you have had spoken.
