When working with your American colleagues, you talk about two things.
Work
and
everyday subjects.
Talking about work is easy
Well...
easier.
You have the technical vocabulary and
many of the words are the same in French and in English
The difficult thing is to make small talk
Small talk
Little social discussions about every day subjects.
I’m Christina and you’re watching Speak Better, Feel Great TV
The place to boost your English and boost your career
In today’s video
I’m gonna show you a simple technique
that you can use to make small talk around the coffee machine with your American colleagues.
You ready?
When making small talk, there are two major challenges:
having vocabulary
and
having something to say.
Today,
you’re going to learn how to start a conversation with confidence
without needing a ton of complex vocabulary.
How?
With the ARE method
It’s a 3-step structure that makes it easy to start a conversation
confidently.
A.R.E.
A R E stands for
Anchor
Reveal
Encourage.
Let’s look at each part and then we’ll put it into action
and
you’ll even have a chance to practice!
A is for Anchor.
Start the conversation by anchoring it
in the situation that you and your partner are both sharing
This is just simple sentence to break the ice.
For example
if you’re at a restaurant with a colleague
you can comment on the restaurant.
Something simple like
"Ooh I like the art they have on the walls."
or
"Mmmm, the dessert menu looks delicious."
Don’t worry about making comments that are boring or superficial.
You and the other person
both know that this exchange is
just to break the silence and transition into the real conversation
R is for Reveal.
Say something about yourself that is related to your anchor sentence.
in the restaurant scenario you might say
"I don’t know much about art, but I do like the museum in town. It’s quite nice."
or
"My husband make a really good tiramisu.
Maybe I’ll get tiramisu for dessert and compare!"
You’re giving some personal information about yourself,
so you start to create a connection with your colleague.
You’re also giving them something they can respond to
to continue the conversation.
E
for Encourage.
Now
encourage them to continue the conversation by asking a question
related
to your Anchor & Reveal sentences.
For example
"Do you think you’ll have a chance to do any sightseeing while you’re here?"
or
"Do you ever make desserts at home?"
Of course
you'll need to continue the conversation
You can alternate between questions and comments after the other person says something.
Don’t just ask questions
because you’ll sound like a police interrogator!
Don’t just offer comments
because you’re not really inviting
the other person to continue talking.
Alternate between the two
and you’ll keep the conversation going!
Now
let’s practice!
Here’s the scenario:
After a meeting
you’re taking a break at the coffee machine with your American colleague Bob from the Boston office.
You both have your coffee
and
you’re standing around a table in the break area
You want to start the conversation
Find something to say
following the ARE structure and say it out loud for yourself.
I’ll guide you
Anchor your conversation.
Go ahead
Now
reveal something about yourself
Finally
encourage Bob to continue.
Here’s a sample conversation starter
Then, you can continue talking about office culture, your typical day at work, etc
Or, another possibility
Then you can continue talking about what makes good and bad meetings
the different subjects of interesting or boring meetings you’ve attended, etc.
Let’s try another scenario.
You’re at a restaurant for lunch with Jennie
who’s visiting you from the Chicago office
You’ve just ordered your food
You can’t wait in silence
so, you start a conversation.
Again, I’ll guide you, but say something out loud to yourself
Anchor your conversation.
Go ahead.
Now
reveal something about yourself
Finally
encourage Jennie to continue
Here’s a sample conversation starter:
Or, if, for example
the restaurant has clafoutis aux cerises on the menu of the day
So to recap:
If you want to start a conversation with your American colleague
on a general, everyday subject,
use the ARE structure
Anchor
Reveal
Encourage.
Don’t worry about using long, complex sentences.
And
we’ll look at vocabulary for common small talk topics in future SBFG videos
so feel free to send me your suggestions of topics!!
If you made it to the end of this video, congratulations.
You made it to the end of one of the longest Speak Better, Feel Great TV videos
I imagine you watched until the end because the subject was interesting for you.
If you want future videos
sign up to get a new one each week at christinarebuffet.com.
Additionally, if you have a colleague who could benefit from this very practical video,
send them a link to it.
Don’t just “like” it on LinkedIn or Facebook.
Send them a personal email.
They’ll thank you for it!
Finally, tell me:
what subjects do you want to be able to talk about with your American colleagues?
I’ll prepare some vocabulary videos in the future
to help you have the vocabulary you need
to feel confident in small talk conversations.
I’m Christina, from Speak Better, Feel Great TV.
See ya next time!