This is the Business English Podcast, Episode 552 How to Continue Small Talk at the Start of a Work Call.
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That's allearsenglish.com slash F L U E N C Y S C O R E. Hello, Michelle.
How are you doing today?
I'm doing well, Lindsay.
How are you?
Hey, I'm doing good.
What are we getting into on the show today?
Yeah.
So Lindsay, when you tell people that you're based in Denver, so maybe you have a business call or something like that,
Yeah.
What do people usually say?
They usually say good things.
They say, oh, I went to Denver to ski last year.
It was so amazing.
Or I have a friend who who just moved out there a few years ago and he loves it.
Usually it's good stuff, actually.
That's good.
What about when you were in Boston?
Geez, I don't remember quite as much.
But I mean, Boston is a huge academic city.
So usually someone knows someone who went to school.
Right.
Graduate school, college in Boston.
So average age in Boston is like 34.
So like clearly like the college kids or grad students really dominate the city.
Yeah.
Yeah.
What about New York when you were living in New York?
I mean, people have comments.
Of course yeah people yeah people always oh oh like, how do you like it?
And just oh, i love new york.
Either they love it or they hate it.
Like, did you get a lot of hate on new york?
It's not so much hate, but it's more like people who don't understand city life being like yeah oh, i just wow, i could never, you know, because i live in the suburbs right now, and but it's not, It's not.
I mean, there's a lot around here.
It's not like I'm on a farm or something, but like I've had people tell me who live in the same area.
They say oh, it's so congested here.
And I didn't know.
What?
To me, this is like the most living in the middle of nowhere I could be.
And it's not really, you know?
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
It's all what you compare it to.
And then you talk to someone who lives near Shibuya in Tokyo and they'll say Times Square is just so sparsely populated.
Right, right.
Exactly.
It's all relative um so, but today we're going to talk more about this.
We're doing a follow-up.
We did episode 544.
That was called where are you based, how to start remote calls in english.
And yeah, this was just talking about oh, where are people located?
But this is really just the beginning.
If you don't have time to continue the conversation, of course you're just going to have to move on.
Something's getting started.
However, if there is time, you would be really missing out on opportunity for connection.
If you just said something like, Oh, nice.
Right.
Yeah.
Yeah.
I would say more often than not, there will be time.
This is kind of the small talk section of the call.
Right.
Exactly.
And you know, I think obviously, when you're dealing with your coworkers that already know where you are, you're not going to do this.
This is when you might be on like a sales call of some sort, especially if you work in sales and you're trying to make sales selling something.
But yeah, I think more often than not, there's going to be a bit of a follow-up here.
So what are we going to say next, right, is the question today.
Exactly.
So let's get into it.
So the first thing is, let's say you have been to that place. where the person is.
So what are some things you could say?
Yeah, you could say, oh, wow, or oh, nice, or that's great.
Right?
Just as an intro, right?
Some sort of exclamation.
And then you share your relation to the place.
So here's.
You could say something like oh, I traveled there or I was there in, So I traveled there in 2018.
Right?
Or I was there in 2020 during the pandemic.
Right?
So, or my someone is from there, my mom is from there, my uncle's from there right, or you could even use a sports team.
So oh yeah, i'm a huge blank fan oh, i'm a huge nuggets fan, and this could be also if you haven't been there too.
Maybe you just i mean yeah, these aren't necessarily the the, the mom being from there and the sports, that's not necessarily just if you've been there, but you have some relation, right?
Yeah, for sure.
Oh, I forgot to tell you, I went to a basketball game last week, two weeks ago.
And I think I, is it the Brooklyn team?
That's your team.
Who's your team, Michelle?
No no, the Knicks, it's the nigs.
Okay, it's not the brooklyn nets, it's the next.
Right okay okay yeah okay, that's not the nets, the brooklyn, so no big deal, but so cool, that's fun.
Yeah, so fun.
Basketball is the ideal game to go to if you're not a huge sports person, because it doesn't last very long Right, right.
It's like very efficient.
You're in and out in 90 minutes or something.
Exactly.
And you don't have to worry about the elements, the seasons.
Yeah, it's perfect.
And yeah, so another thing you might say, so I like the comment about sports.
I think that's really good, because that is what a lot of people, at least in American culture, will say right.
That is their association to your city or your state.
Um, or I went there for X. I went there for college.
I went there for work.
Sometimes what I'll get is I'll get a story.
Like, someone will be like Oh yeah, I went skiing out in Vail back in 2017 and this happened and that happened.
And then we'll go into a little bit of detail.
You'll get a story.
You'll have a little detail.
Yeah.
That's funny.
Yeah.
Yeah.
So, and then, Your reaction.
So something like, oh, I loved it.
Or what else could you say?
I loved it.
Or what a unique place.
What a fun place.
What a beautiful place.
That's a really nice way to wrap up your response to where they live.
Right.
Right.
Right.
So this would be just like a really great way to connect.
I mean, the person might stop you and you might say, oh, I'm a huge Nuggets fan too.
And then there you go.
So you don't have to. stick to everything.
You don't know where one of these things you're going to throw out that could be Oh my gosh, me too.
Right?
Yeah.
These are not scripts.
These are not templates.
They are starting points.
Right.
And any of your connections could just spring off from what one person mentions, like the sports right.
Yes, exactly.
So, but let's say you haven't been there or you don't, and not necessarily that you haven't, but maybe you don't know that much about it yeah um, so you could still start with an exclamation, you should.
I mean oh wow interesting right, you should be interested right, you should show that you're interested.
You're excited.
You could say i've never been there, but i've always wanted to go.
Uh, you know and, and you know, many of us feel curious about the world.
So I could probably say this about most places that I haven't been to.
You know um, make sure you mean it, because it would sound weird if you don't totally mean it.
Right.
Right.
Right.
Um, and then you'll ask the next person on the call and then the three of you.
Oh, I've always wanted to go.
I've always wanted to go.
Right.
Like, Yeah, you got to be genuine.
I hear it's blank there.
I hear it's gorgeous there.
I hear it's a lot of fun there.
Right.
Or I hear it's cold there this winter.
Right.
So you could be about the season like right now.
I know on the East Coast, it's very cold and out here.
It's pretty warm.
Actually, it's weird.
What's going on what?
What are you in?
Like the degrees?
Uh, we've been in the 60s over the weekend.
Over the weekend we're in the 60s, and sunny michelle, i mean 70s, like we're not.
It's not even winter here in colorado this year, but we don't have any snow so no one can ski.
Oh, i'm sorry so, but yeah, you're in like the negatives or something, right?
No, it's been horrible, but now now, like We're going to be moving up to the 30s.
Oh, a little bit in the 40s.
Oh, my gosh.
And I say to everybody, oh, get your swimsuit out.
That's how it feels like because we're so used to like it feels like negative eight today.
It's a thing in New England.
You don't live in New England, but in New England you hear, you see dudes wearing like shorts and flip flops on on the 45 degree days.
Sometimes they're not about that.
That's true.
That's true.
Um, okay.
Or you could ask a question like isn't that where something so?
For example, isn't that where the nuggets play, or isn't that the mile high city right?
Something, um, That's a good question.
Yeah, there are a lot of fun facts about different cities.
I can't pull up one at exactly this moment, but when you travel you learn fun facts about places around the world.
You know, like, I don't know, I guess Ecuador is very close to the equator.
Quito, that's fun, right?
Isn't that really close to the equator?
Yeah.
You can say something like that.
Or I mean, sometimes it could even be that a famous TV show was filmed in.
Yes.
Right.
You could say, oh, isn't that where I don't know about Denver, but.
Well, I can tell you, my hometown Keene, New Hampshire, is where they filmed Jumanji, which I'm so proud of.
Oh, I think you told me that.
Well, that is.
I tell everyone that.
Yeah.
Really good stuff.
Okay.
Okay, k-pop demon hunters, haja boys, breakfast meal and huntrix meal have just dropped at mcdonald's.
They're calling this a battle for the fans.
What do you say to that roomie?
It's not a battle.
So glad the haja boys could take breakfast and give our meal the rest of the day.
It is an honor to share.
No, it's our honor, it is our larger honor.
No, really stop.
You can really feel the respect in this battle.
Pick a meal to pick a side.
I participate in McDonald's while supplies last.
All right.
So you could also ask more questions in either case.
I mean, you know, again, you have to kind of feel out these cues.
Is it time to get into the subject matter or is there a little more time for small talk?
What are some things we could ask, Michelle, if there's more time?
How long have you lived there?
Do you like living there?
Would be another.
Is that where you're from?
Or what brought you there?
These are all really nice ways to open up a bit more conversation, maybe two or three more minutes.
Right, exactly.
So we gave you a ton of tools.
And what I love that Lindsay said is this is not a template.
These are starting points.
We didn't give you a script here.
These are just ways to start.
But a great idea is also to learn some of the main information about major cities.
That might be just a fun.
You know study tool right.
So, Or you could find an interest of yours, something that you really like sports food, nature and learn about different places in that way.
But to think about okay where, like before you get on a call, if you maybe you don't know, but you know if you can prep yourself.
Oh, some of the major cities, New York, right.
Yes, 100%.
In New York, Boston, Miami, like just to know about, you know, that, that just.
I think in general, to be learning a little bit about the place where you might have clients from or just to prep in that way is good.
Yeah.
Tiny little nuggets.
It doesn't have to be a lot.
And I think that what you said, Michelle, is super important beyond just business.
This will help you to succeed at parties.
You should have a tiny little nugget of knowledge about most parts of the world, I think.
Right.
I mean it doesn't mean you need to know all like the governmental structure and the history of everything.
Like, for example, when I meet someone who lives in Toronto.
My go to comment is always I hear there's great food in Toronto.
How's the food?
Because it is known as a global food city especially, I think, for Chinese food and other kinds of Asian food.
So that's a tiny, tiny nugget that I learned 20 years ago and I've held on to it and I check in on that.
Right.
Yeah.
And you'll pick up things as you go.
And it doesn't just have to be for the US, of course, like Lindsay said, and all over the world.
It's just good to have this knowledge and Okay, this is what I've heard about this place, right?
Just to... I mean, just use it as an activity, right?
When you stop listening to this episode, you know, write down some things.
Write down some of the major places and think okay, could I.
If somebody tells me they're from New York, what might I say?
If someone tells me that, right?
That would be a cool.
That would be a really cool.
We're going to have to do a course this year on socializing and maybe this would be a really cool thing to include this exercise.
But the question becomes then Michelle, like how do we get this knowledge?
I mean, I think it's, well, I think travel's big and if you can travel, travel.
If you can't travel now online, we can travel right in some ways.
Um, we can watch, like the history channel, like the discovery channel.
There's always stuff on tv where you're going, you know like um, anthony bourdain used to have a show right, or similar shows where you're traveling right.
This is where you could pick up the nugget that toronto is a great food city, for example Right.
Right.
Well, whenever we go traveling, we always look, even on YouTube, and just see people going around and eating the food.
We get ideas from there.
So so that's a great idea.
I mean, there are just so many different ways.
But yeah, definitely something to expand upon and to think about how you can add this.
Yes start, start kind of building a little database in your head, build a database.
You have to have a database of tiny little pieces of information.
This is what i.
I observe successful socializers, i observe people that are really good at socializing, and this is exactly what they do.
They have a tiny piece of information about kind of everything, everywhere and everything, And it's just enough to get that conversation going.
I mean, another thing that I like to do, I follow an Instagram channel.
It's this couple.
And what they do is they make the most popular sandwich in every state.
And I don't know if they've gone global yet, but they do the most popular sandwich in every state.
Like every week, like once a week.
They'll choose like New Hampshire, New Jersey.
Right.
And have to send me this.
So there you go.
And that's a good start.
Right.
I heard the corned beef sandwich is famous.
What do you think?
What are your thoughts?
Right.
It's so random.
It doesn't matter what the thing is, but you have to have something.
Right.
Okay.
Right.
Yes.
Right.
Exactly.
So I have two role plays.
I don't know if we have time for both, but how are we doing on time?
I think we should probably be okay.
Let's, let's try the first one and we'll see where we're at.
It might be quick.
All right.
Looks quick.
All right.
So here in both of these, we're meeting on zoom.
So, okay.
All right.
Here we go.
So where are you based?
I'm in Washington, DC.
Oh, wow.
I traveled there in 2022.
I loved it.
Oh, nice.
Is that?
Oh, nice.
Is that where you're from?
No, I moved here after college.
So that's one way to get in.
So very simple, right?
Wow.
I travel.
So you're sharing your own experience here, right?
Um, I traveled there in 2022.
I loved it.
And then, uh, you said, Oh nice.
And then I said, is that where you're from?
So just different ways to expand and get, keep the conversation going.
Looking for that connection exactly, let's do one more.
So uh again, we're on zoom, so here we go.
So where are you located?
Oh, i'm in philadelphia, oh nice.
I've never been, but i've always wanted to go.
Oh, you should come.
It's so nice.
I hear it's really great.
There's so much history.
Do you like living there?
Oh definitely, other than cold winters?
Yeah, and exactly, so here we went the route of you've always wanted to travel there right, so you're showing enthusiasm.
You can never go wrong to show enthusiasm right, about someone's hometown And Philly – people in Philly have a lot of pride about Philly, by the way.
They do.
The Eagles.
Yes.
Yes.
A lot of pride.
Hometown pride.
I probably would have said something about Cheez Whiz and Philly Cheesesteaks.
Right.
Yeah, Philly Cheesesteaks.
So little tiny cultural pieces like – so does it have to be cheese whiz on the Philly cheese steak or something?
Yeah.
Oh, or you could say, Oh, you know what you could say for Philly?
I think you could say wit or without, which means wit.
Yeah.
Like uh, with the cheese with, like with cheese whiz, i think.
Actually i don't know for sure, but i think i'm still learning.
It's so good yeah, or without it and like.
So it's like oh, what's your preference for the cheesesteak right?
They don't even say, they just say it.
So you're obviously talking about cheese whiz.
This is so good.
Oh, my god, we have to do an episode on philadelphia.
Yes,
And Philly cheesesteaks.
So, right.
So again, that, but that's another level of knowledge.
So it doesn't mean I think we should be working towards getting to know these little factoids about every city and every place, but even just showing enthusiasm.
Wow.
I've always wanted to go.
Right.
You know, that's great.
Yeah.
And then you said, oh, I hear it's really great there.
So much history.
Do you like living there?
So you're really opening things up.
Yes.
I love it.
So good.
And it's so fun, too, when you share these pieces that you might know about a city.
You also remember your experience maybe traveling there or consuming something on TV or Instagram that you heard about that place.
Yeah.
Yeah, it's kind of fun.
It builds that connection, right?
A little laugh, maybe.
Nice.
Yeah, yeah, for sure.
So guys, remember, check out that episode 544.
That was kind of part one of this little mini, teeny tiny series.
Love it.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Connection all over this episode.
I mean, this is one of our most connection oriented episodes.
I mean, we've already said it.
Try to learn a little something about every place or show enthusiasm.
You can't go wrong.
Right.
Exactly.
All right, Lindsay.
Well.
This was really fun and lots to practice for our listeners.
Lots of good takeaways and things to work on.
All right.
Really good stuff, Michelle.
I'll see you very soon.
Have a good day.
All right.
Bye.
Bye.
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