Hi, I'm Anne Marie with Speak Confident English and welcome to your Confident
English Wednesday lesson. To get us started this week, I want to ask you a
question: when you meet someone new in English - when you meet a new business
client, a new partner, someone who just moved to where you live - how do you start
a conversation with them in English? What questions do you use to start that
conversation, to make small talk? If you often feel nervous about asking
questions in English, starting conversations... if you're not sure about
what questions are polite to ask, then today's lesson is perfect for you.
Today I'm going to share my favorite questions for starting conversations in
English. These are questions I use when I meet someone new or if I haven't seen
someone in a long time. We'll also talk about why they are great questions, what
I love about them, and how you can use them. What situations are perfect for
these questions. So the next time that you're getting to know a new client or
partner at work; the next time that you're at an international conference
talking to people in your profession, getting to know them, building your
network; or the next time you have some new neighbors to meet or people at a
birthday party, you can start that conversation and you've got questions
that are perfect for that situation. Now let's pause just for a moment because in
this video we're going to talk about questions to start a conversation with
anyone in English but you might be thinking, "HOW do I start a conversation
in English? I always feel nervous, I feel stressed, I
forget the words that I want to use. I have questions that I want to ask but I
don't know how." If that sounds like you, I actually have a much more in-depth
training video just for you. You can download it for free in the online
lesson. And in that video I go much more in-depth and we get some strategies for
how to be confident, how to be prepared, and ready to start a conversation. So
when you have the right questions you can go to that international conference,
you can go meet your neighbors, go to the dinner party and not feel nervous, not
feel afraid to start that conversation in English. So again if you want that
training just go to the online lesson and click download to get that
advanced training. Okay so let's get started with my favorite questions. In
this video I'm going to highlight four questions that I almost always ask and
then in today's lesson I have a list of 10 questions. So whatever your situation
is, wherever you are going, whoever you are talking, to I have a question that
you can use, to ask them, to start that conversation, keep the conversation going
and enjoy your discussion in English. My first question for today and honestly
it's my most favorite - I ask my friends this question, I ask people I've met
for the first time, I ask people I haven't seen for a long time, I even
ask my husband this question sometimes - is what's the most interesting thing
you've done lately? Or what's the most interesting thing you've read lately?
What's the most interesting thing you've heard lately? I love this question
because you can use it everywhere. If you're at a business meeting and you're
just chatting with people before the business meeting starts, ask someone what
the most interesting thing they've done lately is. Or if you just met someone at
a party and you want to keep the conversation going, this is a super
simple question to ask. It always starts a conversation and most people are
really happy to talk about something interesting that they've done. They like
talking about things that are enjoyable. I also like it because I always learn
something new and if I'm talking about something that you've read or you've
heard, I learn a new fact or I learn about a new book, a new film that I
should watch. So if you're searching for a polite, easy, conversational question in
English, for making small talk, getting to know someone,
I highly recommend this question. My second favorite question is perfect
for a situation when you're meeting someone for the very first time. I love
to ask where are you from originally and I ask this to both native and non-native
speakers because honestly even if you come from the same city as I do or you
come from the same area, your experience in life growing up, being a child, going
to school, studying, is different from mine. So even if we come from the same place, I
will learn something new. But of course if you come from somewhere completely
different - another part of the country, another region, or a different country
- then I'll definitely learn something new. I might learn about a new culture, a new
cuisine and all of that information is very easy for follow-up questions. So
when you want to continue the conversation, if you find out that
someone is from another country then you could definitely ask about their culture,
their cuisine, what is something unique about where they're from, what do they
recommend if you visit that place. As I mentioned, this is great anytime you meet
someone new. So again, if you're traveling for work or you're at a business meeting
and you're just getting to know some people before or after the meeting, this
is a great, simple conversation question. If you've just moved to a new city, an
English-speaking country, and you're starting to get to know your neighbors,
maybe you're getting to know the other parents at your kids school, this is a
great question to start those first conversations. Now this third question is
perfect for professional situations. Maybe you're chatting with some
colleagues, maybe it's a colleague that you
haven't seen in a long time or maybe you're getting to know a new business
partner, a potential client. It's very similar to my favorite question, the
first question, but it's changed just a little bit to really focus on work. So a
question I often ask is, "have you been working on any interesting projects
lately?" Or have you been working on anything interesting lately? Again most
people really like answering questions or talking about things that they enjoy,
things they find interesting, so this is a really easy question to get a
conversation going, get someone talking a little bit, get to
know them. And as you learn about a project that they're working on or
something they've been doing that's interesting,
again you'll learn a lot and you can ask follow-up questions to keep that
conversation going. And the final question for today's video is on the
topic of travel. I love talking about travel. I love hearing about other
people's experiences, their recommendations, what their favorite
thing was on vacation. I love it. So one of my most common questions if
I'm meeting someone new, if I haven't seen a colleague or a friend for a long
time, I might ask, "Where's the coolest place you've ever been?" This is a great
question for telling stories and sharing memories, even getting recommendations
for a great place to visit, something to do, or a place to eat. So there are my
four favorite questions for starting a conversation in English. Again these are
questions that I use, other native speakers use, all the time and they're
perfectly polite for various business situations and daily life in English.
You can visit today's online lesson to get my full list of
ten questions to start a conversation with anyone. Review the questions and
then share with me in the comments. I want to hear from you and help you get
some practice using English, give you some feedback. So review the list of
questions and then tell me your favorite question. What do you think is the best
question on the list? And then share your answer to that question. I look forward
to hearing from you in the comments and I'll see you next week for your
Confident English Wednesday lesson.