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