- Hello, welcome back to Go Natural English.
This week we are continuing to talk
about conversation skills.
This is for you if you would like to have
better conversations, to control your conversations better,
to make better connections with people,
and just improve your overall experience
when you're having conversations.
So, last week we talked about conversation killers,
how to avoid them, how to improve your conversations.
And this week we're talking about
10 ways to change the topic or end a conversation.
So, if you're in a situation where
someone is killing the conversation,
maybe you're killing the conversation,
hopefully not, I'm sure you don't,
but if you need to get out of an
awkward situation these phrases will help.
So, this is for you if you're a native speaker,
if you're a non-native speaker of English
and you're an English learner,
this is definitely for you, but I think it's for everyone
who wants to improve their conversations.
And I'll share a link to last weeks video
at the end of this one so keep watching.
If this is your first time here then
welcome, I'm so excited you're here.
My name is Gabby Wallace and I am
an English teacher from the United States.
So, let's jump into our 10 phrases today.
You know, I was thinking about these
because I've been using a lot of ride share apps
to get around Los Angeles, where I am right now.
I don't have a car at the moment.
And, you know, I'm always engaging in
lots of different conversations
with lots of different people,
and one of the most recent experiences was
a ride with a guy, a driver who was really sad about his
relationship that was failing and it was a lot of
personal information, like really quickly.
And so, I told him hey, did you know
there's a lot of great relationship advice on YouTube?
You should check it out.
So, those are actually a couple of phrases that you can use.
I'm gonna introduce the list of 10,
but I want you to know that you can
mix and match these, you could use
a few of them together, it's up to you.
And, please, if you think of more phrases
that would help us to change the topic
or end a conversation in a smooth and polite way,
please tell us in the comments,
we can help each other out here.
Okay, let's go, number one, on another topic.
Use this phrase to smoothly guide
the conversation to another topic.
So you could say hey, on another topic,
and then insert what you wanna talk about.
So, on another topic, what's your favorite kind of coffee?
I'm just gonna give you some random examples here
to show you how, you know, you might
create a complete sentence.
You could also add some words here like,
on a completely different topic, if you want to
drastically change the conversation or make a big leap.
So, on a completely different topic,
what's your favorite city to travel to?
Great, number two, exclamations.
So, any kind of, well not any kind of but
a polite exclamation like, oh my gosh,
or wow, I just thought of something
I have to share with you, or hey!
So, wow, hey, oh my gosh, these are all
polite exclamations that you can use
to enter a conversation and change the topic
so it seems like you just thought of something
when you use an exclamation like, wow,
I just thought of something and, you know,
you can use that to introduce a new idea.
Number three, I'm gonna give you
a two for one here, let me ask you something,
and then of course, you would ask a question.
So, let me ask you something, what's your favorite
kind of coffee or how do you take your coffee?
Or, alternatively, let me tell you something.
So, this is a great introduction
to really anything you wanna say.
Actually, I was talking with one of my
best, oldest friends just yesterday,
and he used this phrase a lot and
I thought it was really smooth.
He's actually a non-native English speaker
and I was taking notes from him
on how to improve my English so, thank you Adam.
So, he said several times, let me tell you something,
and I love this phrase because it just sounds cool
and then you can say anything you want after that.
So, let me tell you something,
music from the 80's is the best.
Number four, this is also a two for one.
So, if you want to introduce maybe talking about
a movie or something happening in current events
you could say, have you seen,
you know, have you seen Spider-Man?
I actually haven't yet, I still need to see it.
I definitely want to.
Or, have you heard of, so this is a little more general.
So, maybe I wanna talk about the city I'm from.
You know, have you heard of Minneapolis
or do you know of Minneapolis?
So, actually, that was a three for one,
three phrases in one there, but those are
all great ways to introduce a new idea.
Number five, did you know?
So, in my first example, you know,
did you know there's a lot of great
relationship advice on YouTube?
Did you know is just a great way
to introduce some fact or, you know, information
or something that you think is interesting.
Number six, a great way to make a big leap,
this is off topic, but have you ever been apple picking?
It's a great activity to do
in the fall in the United States.
I've done it when I was a kid.
Anyway, you can alter the sentence a little bit and say,
you know, this is completely off topic or this is
really random and off topic but do you like apples?
So, you can use these phrases in a few different ways.
Now, seven, eight, nine, and 10
are all about ending a conversation
and moving on to talk to somebody else.
So, number seven, one of my favorites,
I've got to run or I have to run
but normally people say I've gotta run.
So, we don't say I have got to run, we say I've,
I've gotta run, I've gotta run, I've gotta get going.
I've gotta run which means,
you need to move on to the next thing.
And this a polite way to move on
to another conversation or just end the conversation there.
Number eight is quite similar,
I've gotta get going, I have got to get going
or I have to get going, but nobody says it like that
so listen and repeat, I've gotta get going.
I've gotta get going, I've gotta get going.
Yeah, I've gotta get going in
just a minute too so, here we go, two more.
Number nine, it was nice meeting you.
So you can use this if you've just met the person
for the first time or if you had a meeting
where you met someone that you already knew,
you already met them before and this is, maybe,
your second, third, fourth meeting with them,
then you should say, it was nice meeting with you.
Don't just say it was nice meeting you
because that sounds strange, that's what we say
the first time we meet someone.
So, English learners, pay attention to the difference here.
It was nice meeting with you or
you could say it was nice meeting you here.
Let's say you met in a cafe, it was so nice
meeting you here but I've got to get going.
It was so nice talking with you.
That is always a nice phrase to end a conversation.
Now, let's say that you are ending the conversation
but you really like the person, you wanna stay in touch.
How do you stay connected with someone?
How do you build that relationship?
How do you follow up?
How do you make sure that this isn't
the last time you talk to this amazing person that you met?
Well, in next week's video we're going to talk about
10 phrases that you can use to stay connected with people.
To follow up with them and to meet with them again.
So, this will help you to build stronger connections,
better relationships, more friendships,
so I'm really excited for next week Wednesday at 10 a.m.
Eastern Standard Time, I will see you there.
Now, what should you watch right now, next?
First, you should check out last week's video
about conversation killers right up there.
And then, I actually have another video
that I made a few years ago about
how to politely ask for something,
which I think you'll find interesting
if you wanna have really polite English.
You can watch that right over here.
Alright, thank you so much.
Make sure to subscribe so that
you don't miss next week's episode.
Alright, by for now.
(lip smack)