How to Make Effective small talk

Listening to the Jordan Harbinger podcast, I learned a tip about making effective small talk; the F.E.W. approach. Facts, Emotions and Why.

• Facts:
  • Start with asking a fact.
    • “Where do you work?”
• Emotion:
  • Follow up with an emotion.
    • “How do you like working there?”
• Why:
  • Dig a little deeper
    • “What made you choose the career path?”

It’s important to mix this up with statements of your own in-between the questions so you don’t sound like a robot.

I also came across the pareto principle today. From Wikipedia:

“The Pareto principle (also known as the ⁸⁰⁄₂₀ rule, the law of the vital few, or the principle of factor sparsity) states that, for many events, roughly 80% of the effects come from 20% of the causes”

So focus on the 20% that matters the most first.