SMALL TALK

Alexa Esmeralda Ramírez González

Elsa Nahomi Rivas Valencia
María Fernanda Quezada Velázquez
Ana Beatriz Castillo Uribe
Luis Diego Rodríguez Cruz
 WHAT IS SMALL TALK?
• Conversation about banal things, often between strangers or people who do not
know each other well

• Intercultural communication

*Not an universal behavior

ICE BREAKERS
• Designed to "break the ice” and is often used with
people who do not know each other.

• This is a great way to help people open up.

• Can be used at events, meetings, classrooms,

among others.
 • Icebreakers remain a highly valued
component of many learning sessions, no
matter the age, level, or geographic location of
the learners.
 THEY CAN SERVE A MULTITUDE OF PURPOSE:
• Introduce participants one to another
• Enable participants to network with each other
• Help people remember names
• Introduce a free topic
• Set the tone for the session
• Help get conversations going
• Break down barriers between social status
• Encourage participants to think differently/freely
• Understand the knowledge and experience of participants
APPROPRIATENESS
 EVERYTHING MATTERS...
REALLY.

• AGE
• LOCATION
• GOAL
• TOPIC
• ETC...
 AT THE START
(IF YOU ARE BEING INTRODUCED TO
SOMEONE NEW)
• A handshake is always polite and neutral

• (There are a few exceptions)

 WHY DO WE SMALL TALK?

• To break uncomfortable silence

• To "kill" time
• While waiting for someone or something
• Be polite when you are introduced to someone
• To get to know someone you found interesting
 GET THE CLUE!
• Sometimes people want
to stop the conversation
saying phrases like:
• "I need to..."
• "I'll look for..."
• Etc...

So you must do this

SOCIO-CULTURAL
ASPECT OF ST
 INFLUENCED BY

• Ethnicity of the people participating/Intercultural

communication.

• Norms of the location.

 WHY DO YOU HAVE TO BE AWARE?
• It can be "a hurdle or an instrument" for personal development

• It is an indicator of behavior and socialization

• You may want to talk to someone, *wink*, and you do not want to be
rude in any way, so you will have to take a lot of things in consideration

• It can be a "double-edged sword of sociocultural reality"

TEACHING & LEARNING
PROBLEMS
 TEACHING PROBLEMS

• Teacher does not create an interactive environment.

• Teacher does not provide clear examples.
• Teacher does not have a non-controversial topic list.
 LEARNING PROBLEMS
• Students do not understand the main purpose of a
small talk.
• Students do not have confidence. They are shy.
• Students start talking about controversial topics.
• Students do not have interest for the topic.
FORMALITY OR
INFORMALITY
• Who?

• Where?

• When?
WHO?
WHERE?
WHEN?
DIRECTNESS OR
INDIRECTNESS
•Direct

•Straightfoward
CLOSENESS OR
DISTANCE
• Small talk could promote bonding.

• Late last year, Princeton researchers reported that ring-

tailed lemurs reserve their call-and-response
conversations, akin to human chitchat, for the animals
they groom the most—suggesting that small talk
maintains closeness with loved ones, and isn’t merely
the stuff of awkward exchanges with strangers.1 Kulahci et
al., “Lemurs Groom-at-a-Distance Through Vocal Networks” (Animal
Behavior, Dec. 2015)
• Small talk can also help us feel connected to our
surroundings.

• Introverts and extroverts.

LEVEL OF IMPOSITION
 BIBLIOGRAPHY
• Cambridge Dictionary. "Small Talk Significado En El Diccionario Cambridge Inglés." Small
Talk. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Oct. 2016.
• Bernie Chun Nam Mak, and Hin Leung Chui. "Journal of Multicultural Discourses." A
Cultural Approach to Small Talk: A Double-edged Sword of Sociocultural Reality during
Socialization into the Workplace: : Vol 8, No 2. N.p., 16 Jan. 2013. Web. 10 Oct. 2016.
• Doctoroff Landay, S. (2011) http://elearnmag.acm.org
• @. (2014). Teaching ‘Small Talk’. Retrieved October 07, 2016, from
https://oupeltglobalblog.com/2014/01/09/teaching-small-talk/
• Petersen, By Tom. "Big Problem of Small Talk." CBNMoney. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Oct. 2016.
• Xia Cui. "Small Talk." John Benjamins Publishing Company. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Oct. 2016.